Maj. Travis Rambert remembers the old days when he would visit high schools with a fistful of Army scholarships and practically beg students to take them. This year, Rambert gave away all available scholarships and had a list of leftover students waiting for more funds.

"Now, it seems, there's almost too many students in line," said Rambert, a recruiter for Bowie State University in Prince George's County.

Across the state and country, other colleges have reported increased interest and enrollment in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Last academic year, Army ROTC enrollment at Maryland colleges and universities went up 20 percent, from 466 the year before to 560. The numbers nationwide grew 3 percent, from 29,818 to 30,824, during the same time.

Cadet Wayne Logan, 18, believes the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had something to do with the increases. He recently signed up for ROTC this fall at Bowie State.

"It was kind of a wake-up call that we're not untouchable," said Logan, who lives in the District. "Everybody can't be a doctor, and somebody needs to protect the United States."

Others cadets pointed to war in Afghanistan and the lead-up to the war in Iraq.

When the Army deployed troops to the Middle East last year, Daniel Leingang was still a high school senior but felt ready to enlist right away. Instead, he waited and entered college as a cadet this year.

"I was all ready to go to war, but [my parents] wanted me to go to college. This is a compromise," said Leingang, 18, who is coming to Bowie State from Springfield, Ill.

Recruiters point to other reasons their ranks have grown, namely a bigger push to recruit, new tools such as the Internet and e-mail, a bad economy and better financial incentives.

"My sense was that the events validated a choice that many of the people had already made to join ROTC," said Paul Kotakis, national spokesman for the Army ROTC.

Ann Easterling, spokeswoman for the Air Force ROTC, agreed. Last academic year, the Air Force experienced a 22 percent increase, from 14,308 cadets the previous year to 17,513. The Navy's program grew slightly during that time, from 5,831 to 6,068, a 4 percent increase.

Two years ago, the Army changed its stipend system to make it more attractive. Cadets, who previously received a stipend of $200 a month, had their pay increased and staggered from $250 a month for freshmen to $400 for seniors.

"It gives them more reasons to stay through the whole program and contract with the Army," Rambert said.

The Army ROTC was established in 1916, part of President Woodrow Wilson's National Defense Act as a way to bring more college-educated men into the military. Since then, it has produced more than a half-million officers. Currently, 75 percent of all Army officers come from the program. Cadets can receive $70,000 or more in college scholarships over four years but must commit to four to eight years of military service.

Since Rambert started recruiting at Bowie State in 2000, his unit there doubled from 18 to 36. This year, he expects 50 on his roster.

"The war in Iraq may or may not be the cause, but we are growing," he said.

Even if the war in Iraq does not contribute to enrollment, it has certainly changed the experience, ROTC instructors say.

"Cadets last year and the ones coming in this year get a different perspective," said Col. Michael Setnor, an Air Force instructor at the University of Maryland at College Park. "You go from the philosophical world, where only the old and the dead have truly seen a real war, to reality, where you raise your own right hand and swear to support and defend the Constitution."

At the University of Maryland, the Army ROTC cadets watched while student peace activists walked out on classes by the hundreds and held regular rallies at College Park in connection with the war.

"We told [our cadets] to avoid protest areas in uniform, just for their own safety," said Capt. Tracy Koivisto, an ROTC instructor.

Protesters or not, Logan can't wait to get into his uniform next month, and he plans to keep it on the rest of his life. The rising freshman dreams of being the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"I just want to hurry up, graduate and be out there serving," he said. "I feel like it's my obligation."