College credit for military service
If you’re at any stage of the college application process, chances are you’ve heard a few hundred times about the importance of choosing a school that is “military friendly.” What you should know is, where many schools are concerned, there is military friendly, military friendlier and military friendliest.
One oft-overlooked measure of military friendliness is whether a school awards credits for military experience. The American Council on Education offers recommendations for the awarding of credit based on military education, training and experience. Unfortunately, not all schools offer full credit — or any credit — for what you may have done while in uniform. George Mason University, for example, a public university in a Virginia suburb with a huge military presence, considers credit earned for training or military service only for its Bachelor of Individualized Study program. And the nearby University of Maryland doesn’t award credit for military service at all.
One nursing and history double major at Mason found out the hard way that his military credits didn’t transfer with him to the school. “Call ahead to the university to make sure your military credits will transfer,” he advised. “That way you don’t have to take the first two years of college over again.”
It’s one more thing to add to the “to-do” list when applying to schools. But a little extra work before you apply can save you a great deal in time — and money — when you actually head back to school.
