Four Navy College Offices in U.S. to stay open through 2017

Four Navy College Offices will remain open until October 2017 to ease the transition to an online and hotline-based system for applying for education benefits.

The move is a temporarily delay of the Navy's plan to shutter all 20 of its U.S.-based offices where sailors can sign apply for tuition assistance and off-duty education counseling, a plan that sparked a furor among higher education institutions worried they would need to drop some on-base courses.

The Navy College Offices in Norfolk, Va., San Diego, Calif., Jacksonville, Fla., and Kitsap, Wash. will remain open until Sept. 30, 2017. All others will shutdown by this October.

“After looking at the all the various options, we decided that this phased approach was the most viable option and best solution for our sailors and personnel,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kate Meadows, spokeswoman for Naval Education and Training Command. “There will be upgrades, changes to websites and this phased approach will assist with implementation and allow for an easier transition.”

Meadows says that the changes were “the Navy’s own” and not mandated by the Department of Defense, which last month said they would review the Navy’s decision to do away with the remainder of its on-base NCOs and the face-to-face counseling they offer.
As the Navy has moved towards its all virtual education center-based approach, it's became evident there were too many unknowns on how the new system, said sources familiar with the transition plan.

The Navy College website needed to be upgraded from simply pages of links and information, as sailors are forced to get information elsewhere.

As the offices close, some of their functions will be picked up Navy Regional Advisers, who will support and advise installation leaders on off-duty education matters like base access for institutions and academic testing for sailors.

Leaving the four offices open keeps the biggest fleet areas supported while the Navy works through kinks with the new system.

There's a possibility these four offices could be kept open longer if needed.

Another problem is the Navy’s Virtual Education center, sources say. Right now, it’s basically a call center. The Navy plans to hire more counselors to help with online and phone help for sailors, but the extra year will ensure the virtual center can ramp up to increased use.

There’s no plans to close any of the 11 overseas Navy College Offices in Atsugi, Guam, Misawa, Sasebo, Yokosuka, Bahrain, Guantanamo, Rota, Sigonella, Naples, and Pearl Harbor.

The following NCOs will still close on Oct.1: Bethesda, Md.; New London, Conn.; Little Creek, Va.; Pensacola, Fla.; Charleston, S.C.; Gulfport, Miss.; Kings Bay, Ga.; Ventura County, Lemoore and Coronado, Calif.; Fallon, Nev.; Whidbey Island, Wash.; Everett, Wash.; Great Lakes, Ill.; Millington, Tenn.; and Corpus Christi, Texas.