So, when I was talking to the recruiters before I was on scholarship, I was told we would get laptops as long as the school required them. When I got to school I was told that, even with the school requiring them, the HPSP program would never pay for them. I got a copy of the student handbook, and sure enough, computers weren't authorized. Did this come as a surprise to anyone else?

I understand that unless the cost is rolled up into tuition, the armed forces do not cover it. This includes laptops and insurance as the usual exclusions that you'd have to pay for.

That makes sense because the handbook also says they won't pay insurance but since it's wrapped in tuition cost, we get it. I wish my school would have put it all together.

yeah, I'd think that schools would get wise to this and if things are "required" then wrap them up in tuition for the beneift of those on scholarship.

Insurance does not need to be rolled into tuition in order to be paid, at least not in the Navy. The school must require it and the dean, registrar, or whoever you take your reimbursement form to must initial the proper line on the dean's certificate or whatever that extra form is called that you send in. The only catch that sucks is that you only will get reimbursed at the single rate, if you carry your spouse or kids, their portion of the premiums are not repaid. For those of you considering HPSP vs HSCP, having the family covered by tricare at no expense is an often overlooked benefit of the HSCP program.