DECEMBER 7, 2021 – There is no greater honor than serving your country; it’s also something that has an everlasting effect on your life and who you are as a person. But what happens after you’ve finished your service? Fortunately, for those who wish to get an education and work in a certain field, military training and your time in the service can help you get a degree faster. Here’s what you need to know.
Earning College Credit
Military training actually qualifies you to earn college credit. Your experiences as a veteran don’t just make a difference in how you view life, but they can also push you closer to getting your degree. The great news is you don’t even need to have completed your service to earn college credit. Both members in active duty and veterans qualify for college credit, which you can then use to pursue a degree. You just need to transfer your military experience to college credit, which comes with a ton of benefits as well. This will give you a head start and help you earn your degree in less time.
Another benefit you get with transferred credits is the flexibility to take whichever courses you want since you now have more time on your hands. This will help you study topics that interest you and align with your career objectives. Perhaps the biggest perk to transferring credits is how it saves you money; you’ll be paying for fewer courses and will end up saving on your tuition fees too.
Veteran Friendly Education
There are plenty of veteran-friendly education opportunities that you can take advantage of to earn your degree. Military experience is worth up to 20 college credits in some of these universities, and in some cases, they are related to the semester hours dedicated to physical fitness in colleges. You can use those credits and continue to work on getting a bachelor’s degree; the great news is that it can easily be done online. You don’t need to go to a campus to earn your degree. The programs you can apply for with your transferred credits range from accounting and finance to anthropology and criminal justice. You’ll have a ton of options with your military credit, which would be accepted in a number of universities.
How to Get Started
You first need to research the universities that accept the military experience and find out how many college credits that would transfer into. Then check if they offer the programs you’re interested in. You’ll want to get your military transcript so the college could determine if and how your military experience is transferable to college credits in a particular discipline. After that, you need to apply to a few of your shortlisted universities and work towards obtaining your degree.
It would be a good idea to apply to disciplines aligned with your specialty in the Army. Take your time to consider your options since you’ll probably have a few. Different universities and colleges will have different perspectives when it comes to your military experience, and you need to find the one best aligned with your values and goals.