Posted on Feb 10, 2018
What impact will earning my degree have on my civilian education score?
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So I have maxed my civilian ed, a full 160 promotion points. But soon I will be graduating with my bachelors degree. My question is will I receive the extra 20 points for completing my degree as a SGT? Like will my civilian ed count as 180 promotion points? Or will I still only receive 160 since the civilian ed block is maxed?
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Education
Promotion Points
Education Promotion Points
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 5
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SGT (Join to see)
SSG, so even though I maxed the civilian education block with 160 points I will still get the extra 20 to help me get to the next rank?
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SSG (Join to see)
SGT (Join to see) - Yup. If you look at your PPW, your college hours are separated from Degree Completion. You get the 160 for your credit hours, then you get the 20 for degree completion.
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Hey Congrats on the Bachelors Degree that is pretty awesome you did that on Active Duty!!!!
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SGT (Join to see)
It’s been a long time coming, and my MOS JST’s gave me thirty credits! You can do it too! It just may take some time...
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SPC Erich Guenther
SGT (Join to see) - I'm an old timer been discharged since 1987, got my degree after ETS with the Army College Fund and VEAP paid for 85% of it. I do know how the new promo points works kind of and they gave medals and awards more weight along with overseas deployments (since how it was done in the 1980's). Really think it was fine before they changed and the emphasis changed back to education and development but I am sure it will flip back again. Yeah on the JST's subject, I think the Army could do a little better job there. They should list out for you where your MOS equates to specific college courses vs JST's so you can explain it later if you ever need to. For example GEOGRAPHY I = Terrain Map Reading of Topo Maps for most part 5 Credits towards Science.............something like that. I remember they had something similar to JST's in the 80's when you got discharged on your Army Education Record you would have accreditations for Infantry that said something like 2-3 Credits towards Phy-Ed, up to about 12 credits were listed. Army could have done better there and equated parts of the MOS to specific college cirriculum. It was too vague in the 1980's to hand it to a college and have them take it seriously. Hopefully they fixed that.
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No, you would not receive an additional 20 points for degree completion. Degree Completion is a sub-category to Civilian Education. Civilian education is capped at 160 points.
I understand you are trying to figure out why they designed it this way. The best way I can see it is based around the associate degree. It appears the Army desires for us to complete an associate degree by the time we are looking to make SGT, and if we haven't by then, they slightly increase the incentive to complete the associate degree when going from SGT to SSG, by raising the cap on civilian education.
At two promotion points per Semester Hour (SH), that would give a SPC pursuing SGT 120-128 points out of 135, if their associate requires 60-64 SH. The 20 point Degree Completion would maximize this category, jumping them from 120 to 135, where it would take an additional 6-months of classes to fill that gap (if taking one 3-SH class every 8-weeks).
For a SGT pursuing SSG, degree completion of an associate's puts them within 20 points of maximizing civilian education. They can either start working toward their bachelor's or get technical certs. Unfortunately, with the large gap of SHs between an associate's and a bachelor's, its not a great incentive to get them started, because after three additional classes, they will reach their civilian education cap, and the rest of the way toward a bachelor's is unrewarded (in a promotion point sense).
Completing your bachelor's degree as a SGT means you are WAY ahead of the Army's civilian education "expectations" of its junior NCOs; you have far exceeded what the promotion point system was designed to incentivize, in regards to civilian education emphasis. This sets you up nicely to be looked at for SFC, Warrant Officer, or even Officer Candidate School. Just don't get stuck in an MOS that doesn't promote well to SSG, otherwise you may lose your competitive civilian education advantage (in the long run); as current SSGs in your field are pursuing their bachelor's degrees, and being reflected on their NCOERs and SRBs, which will be looked at for their early looks at the SFC Boards. You want to be looked at as being one of a few SSGs in your field that have a bachelors degree, not as one of many.
https://www.hrc.army.mil/Site/Assets/Directorate/tagd/STEP_Promotion_Point_Distribution.pdf
I understand you are trying to figure out why they designed it this way. The best way I can see it is based around the associate degree. It appears the Army desires for us to complete an associate degree by the time we are looking to make SGT, and if we haven't by then, they slightly increase the incentive to complete the associate degree when going from SGT to SSG, by raising the cap on civilian education.
At two promotion points per Semester Hour (SH), that would give a SPC pursuing SGT 120-128 points out of 135, if their associate requires 60-64 SH. The 20 point Degree Completion would maximize this category, jumping them from 120 to 135, where it would take an additional 6-months of classes to fill that gap (if taking one 3-SH class every 8-weeks).
For a SGT pursuing SSG, degree completion of an associate's puts them within 20 points of maximizing civilian education. They can either start working toward their bachelor's or get technical certs. Unfortunately, with the large gap of SHs between an associate's and a bachelor's, its not a great incentive to get them started, because after three additional classes, they will reach their civilian education cap, and the rest of the way toward a bachelor's is unrewarded (in a promotion point sense).
Completing your bachelor's degree as a SGT means you are WAY ahead of the Army's civilian education "expectations" of its junior NCOs; you have far exceeded what the promotion point system was designed to incentivize, in regards to civilian education emphasis. This sets you up nicely to be looked at for SFC, Warrant Officer, or even Officer Candidate School. Just don't get stuck in an MOS that doesn't promote well to SSG, otherwise you may lose your competitive civilian education advantage (in the long run); as current SSGs in your field are pursuing their bachelor's degrees, and being reflected on their NCOERs and SRBs, which will be looked at for their early looks at the SFC Boards. You want to be looked at as being one of a few SSGs in your field that have a bachelors degree, not as one of many.
https://www.hrc.army.mil/Site/Assets/Directorate/tagd/STEP_Promotion_Point_Distribution.pdf
STEP_Promotion_Point_Distribution.pdf
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SFC (Join to see)
SGT (Join to see) I was doing personal research on educational services and found that the Army expects enlisted to obtain an associate degree between the 5th and 15th year of service and a bachelor degree by our 20th year of service. So yeah, you are far ahead of the pack. Reference Para 2-7, AR 621-5 (2009):
"2–7. Education objectives for Soldier career development
a. Enlisted Soldiers should—
(1) Master the academic skills needed to perform the duties of their primary MOS (PMOS) and to meet prerequisites for the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) as outlined in DA Pam 600–25.
(2) Earn a high school diploma (HSD) and begin postsecondary studies during the first five years of enlistment. (Those eligible for MGIB education benefits must complete a HSD (or equivalent) or 12 semester hour (SHs) of college prior to applying for benefits).
(3) Earn an associate degree or complete education goal between the fifth and fifteenth year of service.
(4) Establish a lifelong learning professional and personal plan by seventh year of service and/or complete a bachelor’s degree by twentieth year of service.
b. Warrant officers should complete an associate degree before eligibility for promotion to CW3 and a bachelor’s degree before eligibility for promotion to CW4 according to DA Pam 600–11. Degrees must be awarded from an accredited educational institutions.
c. Commissioned officers should—
(1) Be awarded a bachelor’s degree from an accredited educational institution before becoming eligible for promotion to the grade of Captain as stated in 10 USC 12205.
(2) Pursue graduate and/or post-graduate study in an academic discipline supporting their professional and/or personal educational goals."
"2–7. Education objectives for Soldier career development
a. Enlisted Soldiers should—
(1) Master the academic skills needed to perform the duties of their primary MOS (PMOS) and to meet prerequisites for the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) as outlined in DA Pam 600–25.
(2) Earn a high school diploma (HSD) and begin postsecondary studies during the first five years of enlistment. (Those eligible for MGIB education benefits must complete a HSD (or equivalent) or 12 semester hour (SHs) of college prior to applying for benefits).
(3) Earn an associate degree or complete education goal between the fifth and fifteenth year of service.
(4) Establish a lifelong learning professional and personal plan by seventh year of service and/or complete a bachelor’s degree by twentieth year of service.
b. Warrant officers should complete an associate degree before eligibility for promotion to CW3 and a bachelor’s degree before eligibility for promotion to CW4 according to DA Pam 600–11. Degrees must be awarded from an accredited educational institutions.
c. Commissioned officers should—
(1) Be awarded a bachelor’s degree from an accredited educational institution before becoming eligible for promotion to the grade of Captain as stated in 10 USC 12205.
(2) Pursue graduate and/or post-graduate study in an academic discipline supporting their professional and/or personal educational goals."
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