SMART was fully established by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2006, and was assigned to the Navy Postgraduate School (NPS) as the managing agency in late 2005-early 2006.
Any changes to the original contract agreement made between the DoD and the award recipient may result in a longer duration of required employment.
Multi-year recipients are also required to complete internships during the summers at their sponsoring facility at no additional compensation.
At $25000-$38000 per year, plus orientation expenses, plus book and health insurance allowances, plus all tuition and fees, this amount can be very high.
This payback amount is prorated depending on how long the recipient decides to stay in their post-graduation employment.