I know what the VA ‘says’ and I have transcipt of my USMC education and what SMART and ACE say the courses ‘should’ count for.
Are the schools required to take the credit hour rec’s? Or can they pick and choose or ignore?
I am looking for anyone who may have some personal experience in going to battle with the schools to get stuff to count so we spend less $$.
My GI bill expires in two and I am trying to get an assoc. deg. in Criminal Justice.
TIA.
This is the case. I had one school that totally ignored my SMART transcript. I had another school that took just about everything.
This is nothing against the military. Schools often don’t recognize courses from other schools.
As for schools, it depends on where you’re located and what you want to do. For instance, if you want to take classes online.
There are some schools that will take those course and some that will laugh at you.
Use your GI Bill and get your degree.
After 5 years in the Navy, I took my GI Bill and ran, there was no reason to talk to anyone because I already knew what I wanted to do.
I got my 2 year degree completed before I got out, but if you are near a base you should check out their education office. On Navy bases, they are sometimes called the Navy Campus office. With your SMART and your transcripts they can look up what you need to accomplish your goals. You already know you can CLEP out for some courses right? Probably not even touch your GIB with CLEP.
These offices were normally walk in, but you may call first for hours / appointment / whatever.
Good luck.
Good stuff, thanks so far.
Chris, I’ve found that colleges who teach classes on the different bases will take just about anything…but the smart transcript credits usually only count for electives. I had 16 credits on my smart transcript and I only needed 14 to get an associates degree in criminal justice and they (Chaminade University in Honolulu) took all my credits…even night navigation!
So you may just have do some research on who is in your area(if you have any bases in your area)
Godspeeed buddy
the other thing to consider is that a lot of schools will require you to get a certain number of credit hours at their campus to get a degree…
(I know, for example, that UVA requires 64, whereas JMU only requires 32)…
the practical effect of this is that even if you can transfer all the credits you want it you still have to pay for a minimum of 2 years to get their degree…