Posted on Dec 25, 2016
Veterans Face Uphill Fight Getting College Credit for Military Training
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RP Veterans and those Transitioning have you run into this issue with College Credits?
One vet operated a nuclear reactor yet was asked to take introductory physics
Steve Mayou was dumbfounded when he was told he’d have to take courses in introductory physics and basic math on his path to a bachelor’s degree in sustainable building science and technology. Over a 14-year career in the Navy, Mayou had already worked as a nuclear reactor operator on three submarines. Yet just about the only thing his college offered in exchange for that experience was one credit for physical education.
“Not only did I do a physics class as part of my training, I had the ultimate lab,” he said, the anger still evident in his voice. “I was splitting atoms every day.”
Mayou fought back and ultimately got some additional credit for his training and experience at the three different higher-education institutions he attended in Washington State—Edmonds Community, Olympic, and South Seattle colleges—including for that physics class. But he’s seen many fellow veterans who didn’t.
“The frustration comes down to, we’ve already done this,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to bully the schools into giving us credit for it.”
While some states, a few universities and colleges, and the military itself are slowly working to improve this process, “a large portion” of veterans remain unable to turn their experience and training into academic credit, said Barrett Bogue, vice president of Student Veterans of America, which advocates for vets seeking higher educations.
There are numerous reasons for the gap. Often, the descriptions for military training and civilian academic courses don’t align, creating a challenge for institutions trying to apply one framework to the other. Nor are the standards about transfer credits uniform; what schools accept varies widely from one university or college to another. So does institutions’ willingness to even check.
“There’s not one consistent standard,” Bogue said. “The only thing that is consistent is that student veterans continue to struggle to translate their military service into college credits.”
This despite the fact that many colleges and universities are actively recruiting veterans and the $11 billion a year in GI Bill benefits they collectively spend. Yet while at least 773,000 veterans are now using the GI Bill to go to college, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Bogue said “there’s a large portion of that population that has military experience that has not been successfully applied for credit.”
(Read more at the link to the article)
One vet operated a nuclear reactor yet was asked to take introductory physics
Steve Mayou was dumbfounded when he was told he’d have to take courses in introductory physics and basic math on his path to a bachelor’s degree in sustainable building science and technology. Over a 14-year career in the Navy, Mayou had already worked as a nuclear reactor operator on three submarines. Yet just about the only thing his college offered in exchange for that experience was one credit for physical education.
“Not only did I do a physics class as part of my training, I had the ultimate lab,” he said, the anger still evident in his voice. “I was splitting atoms every day.”
Mayou fought back and ultimately got some additional credit for his training and experience at the three different higher-education institutions he attended in Washington State—Edmonds Community, Olympic, and South Seattle colleges—including for that physics class. But he’s seen many fellow veterans who didn’t.
“The frustration comes down to, we’ve already done this,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to bully the schools into giving us credit for it.”
While some states, a few universities and colleges, and the military itself are slowly working to improve this process, “a large portion” of veterans remain unable to turn their experience and training into academic credit, said Barrett Bogue, vice president of Student Veterans of America, which advocates for vets seeking higher educations.
There are numerous reasons for the gap. Often, the descriptions for military training and civilian academic courses don’t align, creating a challenge for institutions trying to apply one framework to the other. Nor are the standards about transfer credits uniform; what schools accept varies widely from one university or college to another. So does institutions’ willingness to even check.
“There’s not one consistent standard,” Bogue said. “The only thing that is consistent is that student veterans continue to struggle to translate their military service into college credits.”
This despite the fact that many colleges and universities are actively recruiting veterans and the $11 billion a year in GI Bill benefits they collectively spend. Yet while at least 773,000 veterans are now using the GI Bill to go to college, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Bogue said “there’s a large portion of that population that has military experience that has not been successfully applied for credit.”
(Read more at the link to the article)
Veterans Face Uphill Fight Getting College Credit for Military Training
Posted from time.com
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Edited 6 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 43
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This is a vet site, so we address vet issues, but veterans are far from alone with colleges not accepting work experience/training. As someone commented, colleges are in the business of selling classes, so their motivation to give credit that eliminates the need to take a class isn't high on their priority list.
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SPC Nadine Willits
The first college I looked at shortly after returning to my home state would not take my college credits stating they were not from "one of (their) affiliated colleges". I later looked into it again, and they were only going to allow my basic training credits for phys ed. I have many nursing credits and wanted to go into nursing initially. I then expanded my thoughts of possible majors and looked into another university. They accepted all my credits so I did not have to take all the elective courses. I am in my final semester right now, in my internship at this moment, and will have finished in 7 semesters instead of 8, with 134 credits where I only need 120 because they accepted my 34 transfer credits from the military. Best advice is to look around, don't settle for the first college you look at or get accepted to.
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Thais interesting COL Mikel J. Burroughs but not overly surprising in the current administration which has issued an amazing number of regulations - many of which conflict.
Bureaucrats have been in charge for far too long.
I hope that as the incoming Trump administration works its way through reviewing, rescinding and replacing or eliminating regulations that this is one of the many issues which will be tackled in the next few years.
Hopefully admissions folks will have insight and wisdom as they review the life expedience of candidates for higher learning.
Bureaucrats have been in charge for far too long.
I hope that as the incoming Trump administration works its way through reviewing, rescinding and replacing or eliminating regulations that this is one of the many issues which will be tackled in the next few years.
Hopefully admissions folks will have insight and wisdom as they review the life expedience of candidates for higher learning.
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LTC (Join to see)
You realize that the POTUS has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not colleges accept transfer credits or grant constructive credit for life experiences, don't you?
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
SFC(P) (Anonymous) - Admissions folks are there to make profits for their institutions, not reviewing life experiences of candidates. Political administrations have nothing to do with the issue.
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LTC Stephen F.
SFC(P) (Anonymous) and LTC (Join to see) thanks for weighing in. Note that I stated "Bureaucrats have been in charge for far too long." because the that is the basic issue not who is POTUS.
The only way that the federal government will become more effective is that it is right-sized and focused on what the constitution apportioned to it in terms of responsibilities.
The federal government increased radically in scope during FDR's presidency primarily in response to his approach to ending the great depression.
Every administration since that point has made changes but nothing so dramatic - although LBJ's Great Society and the current administration's healthcare and energy efforts have increased the government's roles in those areas.
No administration has exercised due diligence in streamlining regulatory guidance so that new regulations or changes to existing ones do not conflict with others.
Hopefully Congress will embark on a similar process of legal review as new bills are introduced and/or modified.
Tax law has frequently been used as the poster child for poorly constructed laws which conflict with each other. However the problem is not limited to tax law.
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SP5 Mark Kuzinski LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SFC William Farrell SSgt (Join to see) SGT (Join to see) SGT Forrest Stewart SrA Christopher Wright Maj William W. "Bill" Price Capt Tom Brown SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt Robert Marx SGT Robert George PO2 Ed C. LTC John Shaw
The only way that the federal government will become more effective is that it is right-sized and focused on what the constitution apportioned to it in terms of responsibilities.
The federal government increased radically in scope during FDR's presidency primarily in response to his approach to ending the great depression.
Every administration since that point has made changes but nothing so dramatic - although LBJ's Great Society and the current administration's healthcare and energy efforts have increased the government's roles in those areas.
No administration has exercised due diligence in streamlining regulatory guidance so that new regulations or changes to existing ones do not conflict with others.
Hopefully Congress will embark on a similar process of legal review as new bills are introduced and/or modified.
Tax law has frequently been used as the poster child for poorly constructed laws which conflict with each other. However the problem is not limited to tax law.
SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SP5 Mark Kuzinski LTC Stephen C. Capt Seid Waddell CW5 (Join to see) SFC William Farrell SSgt (Join to see) SGT (Join to see) SGT Forrest Stewart SrA Christopher Wright Maj William W. "Bill" Price Capt Tom Brown SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt Robert Marx SGT Robert George PO2 Ed C. LTC John Shaw
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PO2 Nick Burke
Cynthia Croft - Yes experience.... Did the job for 7 years then went to instructor's school then taught for 3 years. Got my master training specialist.
Took some of those CC courses where I literally knew more about the subject than the instructor.
Yeah it's a cash cow.
Took some of those CC courses where I literally knew more about the subject than the instructor.
Yeah it's a cash cow.
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This has and will continue to be a problem. Academia doesn't want to accept any training/education not provided in other venues. Interesting thing is many corporations will accept a 2:1 ratio experience to formal education in job descriptions.
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PO1 Todd Cousins
SFC (Anonymous) - As one of those individuals that actually practiced medicine you maybe diluting the water here a bit. For a general HM leaving the service there are multiple ways of receiving your medical assistance or tech certification while in active duty. Also there are tech fields, respiratory, x-ray and pharmacy just to name a few that have an almost straight across the board transition. Combat medicine though is one of the most under translated skill sets out there. These are folks that have actual training and experience dealing with real world traumas and would be an asset in actually saving lifes. Again though schools want to be paid and our law suit happy country will use any excuse to sue. This allows schools to charge people to be sit through classes taught by less experienced individuals just to get the proper civilian piece of paper.
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PO1 Todd Cousins
MCPO Roger Collins - Master Chief the other issue here is in the military though they prefer to not spend the money required to make many of these certifications meet the civilian equivalent.
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