Leaving program early

[Guest]

Your bonus was an overpayment situation. DFAS routinely collects overpayments that may have occurred for various reasons (e.g. You were paid while on leave, or paid at a rate above your grade). In these cases money was actually transferred to you that wasn't supposed have been. The SMART scholarship is a different beast, especially for retention scholars who continued to recover their normal salary. I imagine that it would require an emense amount of authority to demand repayment of salary in a position that was continuously held. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but DFAS does not simply enter a debt amount to collect, especially if they see that you were getting paid the right amount. There are so called "education debts", usually associated with military members (health professional program, for example) but I'm not aware of any existing precedent for civilians. Can anyone add to this?

It's true that they were collecting an overpayment for my bonus. My point was that the procedures that they used to collect that overpayment were the same ones that are outlined in the documents listed in the SMART handbook (DoD Financial Management Regulation volume 5 chapter 28, particularly section 2809 - collection and processing of out of service debts). The question that was asked was whether anyone knew of other situations where federal employees were asked to refund anything. The documentation says that DFAS has authority to approve compromises, suspend and/or terminate collection activities on debt amounts up to $100,000 so clearly there are provisions for them to handle such amounts. I don't know why the handbook would specifically call out that documentation if those are not the methods they intend to use, but of course it wouldn't be the first time there was something completely false in the handbook.

Ok agreed. But after reading the regulation I still have no he what my payments will be like. Many scholars owe in excess of $300K, and yes, even at those amounts we STILL want out (maybe that says something). Do you have any idea idea how much time they will give us to pay those kinds of amounts back? I know that DFAS handles education debts, and they allow 10 years for repayment.

[Guest]

I called DFAS and found out what the likely method of collection will be. If they do collect, most likely it will be processed as an Out of Service Education Debt which must be paid of, by default over 120 months (10 years). This period may be extended by filling out a financial hardship request. There you have it, hope this helps.

[Guest]

I called DFAS and found out what the likely method of collection will be. If they do collect, most likely it will be processed as an Out of Service Education Debt which must be paid of, by default over 120 months (10 years). This period may be extended by filling out a financial hardship request. There you have it, hope this helps.

Woah. If that's really the case, I'm not one bit surprised SMART has kept it on the DL. I would have left a long time ago if I knew I had 10 years to repay it. If I have to pay 45k over 10 years, it should be a cakewalk. Definitely crossing my fingers that the information DFAS gave you is legit. Thanks for looking into it.

[Guest]

There is interest on those repayment plans pegged to the 90 day Treasury Bill auction rate. It's basically zero right now, but has been as high as 5% in the last few years. At 5% is definitely no longer free money :/

[Guest]

There is interest on those repayment plans pegged to the 90 day Treasury Bill auction rate. It's basically zero right now, but has been as high as 5% in the last few years. At 5% is definitely no longer free money :/

I can't speak for everyone, but for me those terms are still preferable to finishing off my service contract. Guess it just depends on your situation.

[Guest]

7. Reimbursement
1. A participant who fails to....
2. However, students completing the program will not be required to reimburse the federal government if:
.A DoD position or....
.The participant leaves the agency voluntarily to enter into service of another federal agency; or
. The Secretary....

Ask the scholarship for a copy of the contract you signed if you want to know your T&Cs.

I'm part of the 2015 cohort and couldn't find anything like this in our T&C. Can anyone confirm or deny? It'd be nice to know that if I wanted to move back home I could work at a more local DoD facility.

[LeftTheAF]

I'm part of the 2015 cohort and couldn't find anything like this in our T&C. Can anyone confirm or deny? It'd be nice to know that if I wanted to move back home I could work at a more local DoD facility.

If you want to work for the DoD, you shouldn't need to pay back SMART, talk to your service liaison and get a transfer if its the same service, and if not, still talk to them, it should count as your service requirement.

[matekiro]

I am a 2008 cohort and had 4.5 years with ~$200K owed. Right now a company wants to know the amount to essentially figure out if they want to pay it out. People with $300K or even $45K please do not take on that debt. That is a house and a really sweet car. Even if you have 10 years to pay it, it is still $45K. Use your networks and find other DoD facilities and get an SF transfer. Survive and find a better gov position. They exist. I actually liked my facility after I learned the DoD culture and compromised a little bit.

[Guest]

I am a 2008 cohort and had 4.5 years with ~$200K owed. Right now a company wants to know the amount to essentially figure out if they want to pay it out. People with $300K or even $45K please do not take on that debt. That is a house and a really sweet car. Even if you have 10 years to pay it, it is still $45K. Use your networks and find other DoD facilities and get an SF transfer. Survive and find a better gov position. They exist. I actually liked my facility after I learned the DoD culture and compromised a little bit.

I'm really interested in how that works. Given that there's no repayment mechanism, their accountants are going to have a hell of a time figuring out how to book it.

[guest]

Anyone who has left the program care to share the amount (they assume/guess) they owe (before interest)?

How early on in phase II has anyone ever left?

[Guest]

I left in 2011, completed phase 1, never started phase 2


No repayment.