Posted on Nov 9, 2013
SGT Chris Birkinbine
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I am a very strong supported for enlisted members receiving education, both by utilizing tuition assistance while on active duty, and their GI bill after the fact.

Unfortunately my experience with the schools available in and around duty stations or online is not that great. I tried two separate community colleges when I was on active duty. One was complete garbage, and the other was only good for basic core classes.

With the exception of maybe those who are lucky enough to be able to utilize tuition assistance to attend an actual state university, how do the rest of you feel?

I should add that after graduating, I complete a B.S. at a state university, and while I realize there is a difference in the type, quality, and style between a university and a community college, I still find the performance of those supposed education facilities that tend to farner more towards soldiers are unacceptably inferior.

Does anyone else have an opinion or experience to share?
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Responses: 3
SPC Rachel Stubbs
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The quality of the courses were very pathetic. They were more on par with high school equivalency than what I would of expected for a college class. I got absolutely nothing out of the courses. I wanted to be challenged and made to think, but what I got was not what was being sold. What I found was that going to a community college and then on to a 4 year college near my home town gave me more of a challenge than what I got near the base where I was stationed.
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SGT Chris Birkinbine
SGT Chris Birkinbine
11 y
I concur. The only benefit I got from taking courses while still in from a community college, is that it allowed me to use state core requirements instead of those that were specific to my university, which was a lot of courses of no value to me. 
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SPC Rachel Stubbs
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I found that trying to peruse a college degree while on active duty as an junior enlisted was extremely hard for me. I kept being cut off from going to class or having access to my online classes from some in my unit, even though one of my NCO's was in one of my classes. I found it much easier and more satisfying to go to school and get my degree once I left active duty. I had much more encouragement the second go around than when i first tried when I was on active duty.
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SGT Chris Birkinbine
SGT Chris Birkinbine
11 y
Yes, time is certainly an issue, especially if you don't have a command chain that is actively supporting you by making sure you are able to attend.

Aside from that, what is your take on the quality of the courses you were able to make? Or did you not make them often enough to be able to give an accurate account?
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SSG (ret) William Martin
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We have to look at the individual and not so much of where they went to school.  Just look at folks with degrees with Ivy League schools and they end up to be major screw ups which I can think of a few but I can't due to disrespect towards our superiors.  I just hope employers do not have the same opinion as the OP.
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SGT Chris Birkinbine
SGT Chris Birkinbine
11 y
Well, if an individual is a screw up, no amount of education is going to necessarily fix that. My concern is that we are short changing service members with a legitimate desire to learn and improve themselves.

I can tell you first hand that employers are very capable of sniffing out subpar degrees. Just ask anyone with an MBA from Phoenix online how many times they have literally been laughed out of a job interview.
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