Thomas R. Betty
Special to In Motion
Receiving college credit for training and work related experience is not a new concept. The records department at Daytona State College works daily on credit transfers from other institutions. Military credits have always been a part of that configuration.
Lance Rothwell/ In Motion
The recent high profile marketing of student veterans receiving military credits is directly connected to the economic impact to the state in tuition costs for recently discharged veterans entering state colleges. Troop removals from Afghanistan and foreign base closures could mean an increase in registrations of those returning veterans entering college, increasing the financial impact on the state. Each credit hour granted through this process saves the state $120 for a resident student and $400 for an out-of-state student, making each college class granted transfer status a savings of either $360 or $1,200 depending on the student’s residency.
That is good news for the state, but there appears to be a different story surrounding the impact of those credits to the student. Once the student initiates the transfer process, it may become a black hole from which there is no return. The American Council on Education’s Transfer Guide to transcript transfer evaluation is the go-to book when determining exactly what classes are cross-referenced for exemption status.
Dr. LeeAnn Davis, Director of Academic Advising and Veterans Services at DSC, tells incoming Veterans, “After your military credits have been determined and applied to your degree program, any classes that have been bypassed through the process will no longer be available for military benefits or any type of financial aid if you should find that you need to take these classes.”
This means that the course cannot be used to determine attendance status for full time or part time benefits received by the veteran. Financial aid and GI Bill benefits will no longer apply to those exempted classes.
“Once the course work in a transcript is evaluated and posted there can be absolutely no removal of it from the record,” said Sandra Summers, a transcript evaluator in the DSC Records Department.
Meaning, when the student is given credit for a class, if the student determines that the class being bypassed through this process needs to be taken anyway, for whatever reason, there will be no provision for financial aid or military benefits for that class. In addition, if the student decides that they need to take the course, the class will not impact the student’s GPA (there will be no grade given) and attendance in the class will be purely an audit, said Summers.
If a veteran entering student status has spent any length of time away from academic progress or use of specific skills addressed by classes in a degree program, it may be beneficial for that student to take those classes that might be bypassed by the process. Those classes that would be financially covered by the student’s benefits or financial aid if there was no transcript evaluation. This makes military transcript evaluation a major decision by the incoming student. It may be a better idea to not have a military transcript evaluated if there was a long duration between military duty and/or educational work.
Jack Avent is a veteran student studying Addiction Studies at DSC. During his tour in the Navy his job was as an addictions counselor. Having taken extensive training to be certified to perform this position, upon entering DSC he had his transcripts evaluated and four courses were a match to his AS degree program. That eliminated the need for him to take those specific classes, 12 credit hours, which were the equivalent to a full-time semester load. The result reduced his time-to-degree by one half of a school year. This is exactly the scenario that the ACE guidelines established and that save the state $1,600.
A worst-case scenario would appear similar to this — a veteran student has his military transcripts evaluated and four classes are eliminated. The student enrolls in classes that would have required those bypassed courses as pre-requisites, only to discover that the student has no idea what is being presented in these advanced courses. This student needs those bypassed courses to better prepare them for the new material. One way to eliminate this scenario is through proficiency testing.
For anyone unsure about how educationally proficient they are, and whose military transcript evaluation may pose a burden to their success, the college’s Assessment Services may be the best option.
“New students can be tested to determine whether a course needs to be taken. This is accomplished through the APLE, CLEP or PERT tests. Some of these have costs associated with them, but pose a better course of action if there is any question as to what classes are needed to bring the students proficiency to college levels,” advised Barbara Fyock, an Assessment Services coordinator.
Student veteran advocates say military transcript evaluation is a decision that must be based on knowledge of the process, as well as need. It should not be made if discovered to be a burden or is questioned by the student veteran. Once the process starts there is no turning back. Questions about the process should be directed to Academic Advising for clarification.