by Guest » Thu Jun 30, 2016 11:43 pm
Just leave the program... you're on your way out if you don't know it.
It happened to me as well, and I went out and got a job, and I don't have to pay anything back, because it's well documented that I did everything in my power to work for the DoD, they just didn't want me.
My sponsoring facility let SMART know about 5 months before my graduation that they would not be able to hire me. There was a hiring freeze in force at my facility with no end in sight. SMART tried to force them to hire me, but SMART actually has very little say in how the sponsor facilities onboard scholars. It's really quite a mess, though some facilities have probably gotten better about it. My facility dug in their heels, SMART dug in their heels, and no one really cared about my life or situation. It was bureaucrats fighting bureaucrats.
Anyway, I got a job somewhere else and was cut off from SMART about 1 month after graduation. (6 months after I should have been onboarded). They just stopped paying the stipend suddenly. I asked if it was because I had recently gotten another job, and they said it was because I had graduated and SMART doesn't pay stipends after graduation.
Just leave the program... you're on your way out if you don't know it.
It happened to me as well, and I went out and got a job, and I don't have to pay anything back, because it's well documented that I did everything in my power to work for the DoD, they just didn't want me.
My sponsoring facility let SMART know about 5 months before my graduation that they would not be able to hire me. There was a hiring freeze in force at my facility with no end in sight. SMART tried to force them to hire me, but SMART actually has very little say in how the sponsor facilities onboard scholars. It's really quite a mess, though some facilities have probably gotten better about it. My facility dug in their heels, SMART dug in their heels, and no one really cared about my life or situation. It was bureaucrats fighting bureaucrats.
Anyway, I got a job somewhere else and was cut off from SMART about 1 month after graduation. (6 months after I should have been onboarded). They just stopped paying the stipend suddenly. I asked if it was because I had recently gotten another job, and they said it was because I had graduated and SMART doesn't pay stipends after graduation.