Who grants the most military transfer credit?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by TCord1964, Mar 19, 2005.

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  1. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I recently obtained the transcript from my military training, and I have 58 ACE-evaluated credits listed. I know most institutions likely won't accept all of them, but who is likely to grant the most transfer credit...TESC or Excelsior? I want to get the biggest bang for my buck (transcript). I'm looking to major (concentration) in Communications or Journalism.
     
  2. Rob L

    Rob L New Member

    From my personal experience, I know that the University of phoenix is very liberal in taking ACE evaluated military credits----they gave me 21 in the form of free electives towards my AA degree. But, considering you want to major in journalism, University of Phoenix is not a good choice. I know each of the BIG 3 is also liberal when it comes to transferring military credits. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you which one will accept the most. But, I am sure each will apply your military credits as satisfying your free elective requirements.
     
  3. aic712

    aic712 Member

    It's true, we are quite liberal in taking Military Credits (Our president Laura Palmer Noone is on ACE's Board as well).

    I wouldn't recommend coming to UOP if you are looking for journalism, while we have classes in the area, no majors.

    Excelsior, Thomas Edison State University and Charter Oak seem very good at accepting.

    Also, Strayer U (although I don't think they have journalism either)

    You also would want to check out the SOC website (servicemembers opportunity colleges)

    http://www.soc.aascu.org/
     
  4. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I don't know what branch you we/are in but this is the website for the Army . COSC gives you credit based on what the military recommends. I would bet most schools follow this. One thing to be aware of is the schools (COSC for sure) only offer credit for schools you have gone to. On the military transcipt, I am listed as Platoon Sarg. under duties and that equals something like 15 credits. Credits are not given for JOBS just TRAINING.

    Hope this helps.
     
  5. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Here is an example - I got creit for this-


    Course Title: Basic Combat Training Basic Training
    ACE Exhibit: AR-2201-0399


    Location: US ARMY TRAINING CENTER at FT JACKSON, SC
    Army Course Number: 750-BT

    From: 04/20/1990
    To: 06/14/1990

    Description: UPON COMPLETION OF THE COURSE, THE RECRUIT WILL BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF MILITARY ORGANIZATION AND CULTURE, MASTERY OF INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP COMBAT SKILLS INCLUDING MARKSMANSHIP AND FIRST AID, ACHIEVEMENT OF MINIMAL PHYSICAL CONDITIONING STANDARDS, AND APPLICATION OF BASIC SAFETY AND LIVING SKILLS IN AN OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT. INSTRUCTION INCLUDES LECTURES, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND PERFORMANCE EXERCISES IN BASIC MILITARY CULTURE/SUBJECTS, INCLUDING MARKSMANSHIP, PHYSICAL CONDITIONING, FIRST AID, AND OUTDOOR ADAPTATION/LIVING SKILLS.

    Recommendations: IN THE LOWER-DIVISION BACCALAUREATE/ASSOCIATE DEGREE CATEGORY, 1 SEMESTER HOUR IN PERSONAL PHYSICAL CONDITIONING, 1 IN OUTDOOR SKILLS PRACTICUM, 1 IN MARKSMANSHIP, AND 1 IN FIRST AID.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Course Title: Medical Equipment Repairer (Unit Level)
    ACE Exhibit: AR-1715-0759


    Location: USA MED EQUIP & OPTCL SCH at AURORA, CO
    Army Course Number: 4B-F2/198-35G10

    From: 07/24/1990
    To: 05/08/1991

    Description: UPON COMPLETION OF THE COURSE THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO SOLVE RESISTIVE SERIES/PARALLEL DC CIRCUITS; ANALYZE CIRCUITS CONTAINING CAPACITORS AND INDUCTORS; SOLVE SERIES AND PARALLEL RESONANCE CIRCUITS; ANALYZE DIODE AND TRANSISTOR CIRCUITS, INCLUDING POWER AMPLIFIERS, OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIERS, AND OSCILLATORS; ANALYZE DIGITAL CIRCUITS, INCLUDING GATES, FLIP-FLOPS, AND COUNTERS; AND TROUBLESHOOT AND MAINTAIN A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC PIECES OF BIOMEDICAL EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING SPECIAL REFRIGERATOR, CENTRIFUGE, ULTRASONIC CLEANER, STERILIZER, BLOOD CELL COUNTER, ANALYZER, BLOOD GAS APPARATUS, COAGULATION ANALYZER, SPECTROPHOTOMETER, DEFIBRILLATOR, ELECTROCARDIOGRAPH, X-RAY SYSTEM, RESPIRATOR, AND MICROSCOPE. STUDENT WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY MAJOR HUMAN ANATOMICAL FEATURES AND PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS. THEORY AND PRACTICAL EXERCISES COVER AC/DC CIRCUITS, SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS, DIGITAL ELECTRONICS, AND A WIDE VARIETY OF PIECES OF BIOMEDICAL EQUIPMENT.

    Recommendations: IN THE LOWER-DIVISION BACCALAUREATE/ASSOCIATE DEGREE CATEGORY, 2 SEMESTER HOURS IN DC CIRCUITS, 2 IN AC CIRCUITS, 4 IN SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS, 1 IN DIGITAL PRINCIPLES, 9 IN BIOMEDICAL EQUIPMENT TROUBLESHOOTING AND MAINTENANCE, AND 1 IN BASIC ANATOMY.


    But not this


    Military Occupational Specialties Held:
    75Z50
    Duty



    Military Occupational Specialty Group 75Z
    ACE Guide Number

    Title: Personnel Sergeant
    MOS 75Z-003

    SQT (Thru Oct 1991)/SDT (Nov 1991 thru Feb 1995) Taken: None

    Description of 75Z50: SUPERVISES PERFORMANCE OF LEGAL, REENLISTMENT, AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS AS WELL AS PERSONNEL ACTIONS; REVIEWS, CONSOLIDATES, AND DRAFTS REPORTS AND SURVEYS; RESEARCHES SPECIFIC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES RELATING TO OFFICER AND ENLISTED PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION; REVIEWS DATA PREPARED FOR COMPUTER INPUT AND RECONCILES OUTPUT; AS A MID-LEVEL MANAGER, ADVISES SUPERIORS ON PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES; SUPERVISES UP TO 18 PERSONS IN A SEGMENT OF A LARGE PERSONNEL OFFICE OR IN A SMALL OR MEDIUM-SIZED PERSONNEL OFFICE. NOTE: MAY HAVE PROGRESSED TO 75Z40 FROM 75B30 (PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION SPECIALIST), 75C30 (PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST), 75D30 (PERSONNEL RECORDS SPECIALIST), 75E30 (PERSONNEL ACTIONS SPECIALIST), OR 75F30 (INFORMATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST). SUPERVISES UP TO 39 PERSONS IN A LARGE SEGMENT OF A LARGE PERSONNEL OFFICE OR SERVES AS THE PRINCIPAL NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER OF A LARGE PERSONNEL OFFICE; MAY ALSO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF A FIRST SERGEANT.

    ACE Credit Recommendation for 75Z50: IN THE VOCATIONAL CERTIFICATE CATEGORY, 3 SEMESTER HOURS IN COMPUTER CONCEPTS. IN THE LOWER-DIVISION BACCALAUREATE/ASSOCIATE DEGREE CATEGORY, 3 SEMESTER HOURS IN OFFICE PROCEDURES, 3 IN OFFICE MANAGEMENT, 3 IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION OR TECHNICAL WRITING, 3 IN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER CONCEPTS, 3 IN HUMAN RELATIONS, 3 IN PERSONNEL SUPERVISION, 3 FOR FIELD EXPERIENCE IN MANAGEMENT, AND 3 IN RECORDS MANAGEMENT ON THE BASIS OF INSTITUTIONAL EVALUATION. IN THE UPPER-DIVISION BACCALAUREATE CATEGORY, 3 SEMESTER HOURS IN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND 6 FOR FIELD EXPERIENCE IN MANAGEMENT.



     
  6. warguns

    warguns Member

  7. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    Re: Re: Who grants the most military transfer credit?


    Well, most of my credits are for actual courses in journalism, broadcasting and photography which I took during military training (I was a Navy Journalist, btw). There are some ACE credits listed on my transcript for things like Basic Training and Third Class Petty Officer, but about 30 of the credits are for things that are related to journalism, and for which I received training.
     
  8. CoachTurner

    CoachTurner Member

    Each of the Big Three and many B&Ms will come out about equal when it comes to awarding credit based on the ACE recs. for service school courses. This is a pretty straight-forward evaluation by the advisor.

    Where it gets complicated and you may have differences is in whether they award for the ACE MOS specifications. Some schools do not award for MOS spec. at all. Some award for only PMOS. Some will award for any held awarded MOS and some will award for Duty MOS.

    The implications there can be huge. I didn't work in my primary MOS much of my 18 years in the Army. I had little more time in my SMOS. I spent the most time assigned in my AMOS with a DMOS 1-2 skill levels higher than I actually was awarded.

    My experience has been that you should not count on much from the MOS specifications (with few exceptions) and should count mostly on the awarded primary MOS if at all. Even if your military transcript shows other specifications -- transcript evaluators know how to read and interpret these reports in keeping with their school policy.

    What you can do with those MOS specifications is use that transcript to justify institutional credit by examination in the subject. In lower level courses, this could be at the local community college. An option often much cheaper than taking classes...
     
  9. CoachTurner

    CoachTurner Member

    This is only true at some schools and partly true at others. I've found more than a few B&M programs very willing to award for MOS credit based on ACE.

    The Excelsior liberal arts catalog does state that credit can be awarded for military occupational specialties evaluated by ACE -- my Excelsior record includes 20 hours from MOS specifications but only 1 hour for Basic Training. They otherwise awarded service school credit exactly as suggested by the Army transcript and ACE but did not award MOS credit for every specialty listed on the transcript nor at the skill levels listed.

    :D
     
  10. Ron Dotson

    Ron Dotson New Member

    Fort Hays State gave me more than Excelcior for my ACE-transcripted military credit. They actually gave me 45 semester hours. Fort Hays requires 30 hours of enrollment there to earn a degree. The Bachelor of General Studies could, theoretically, be done with a Communications or Journalism "emphasis".

    Ron
     
  11. unixman

    unixman New Member

    All 15 of my ACE credits were accepted by TESC. Given their partnership with the military, I can't see why all of your ACE credits would not be usuable, assuming they fit into your degree plan, of course.

    I used all 15 of mine for electives. :)

    Cheers.
     
  12. ybfjax

    ybfjax New Member

    Fitting your degree plan....

    The key phrase here is 'assuming they fit into your degree plan'. Having your credits ACE evaluated gets them through the door quicker, but whether or not they will actually be accepted into the degree plan depends on each school's academic policies.

    So to answer your original question, check out the dantes catalog:

    http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/DEDCNav.asp

    for a list of all military-friendly, regionally accredited colleges with DL options.

    Have unofficial or self-reviews of transferrable credit done, when possible. Then narrow down your selection to about 5 schools, and have official reviews done for each to get a definite answer. Remember, the official review is the one that actually counts towards enrollment and getting the actual degree.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 21, 2005
  13. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    Re: Fitting your degree plan....

    [
    Have unofficial or self-reviews of transferrable credit done, when possible. Then narrow down your selection to about 5 schools, and have official reviews done for each to get a definite answer. Remember, the official review is the one that actually counts towards enrollment and getting the actual degree. [/B][/QUOTE]

    That's good advice, but I believe TESC and Excelsior require you to actually enroll before they will do an official review of credits. That would cost me several hundred dollars, which I would like to avoid if I am just checking to see who might award me the most credit. Since I have so many ACE-evaluated credits, I would like to be able to use as many as possible, as a cost-saving measure.

    I noticed on Bellevue University's website they indicate they will accept the ENTIRE military transcript of ACE-evaluated credits, but they don't offer the major I want at a distance.
     
  14. ybfjax

    ybfjax New Member

    Re: Re: Fitting your degree plan....

    Schools are usually very careful not to make definitive claims on what they will/will not accept towards a specific degree plan until you enroll or at least have an unofficial review done.

    Remember, it is the official review of the school that counts. I just talked to an E-7 who recently made the mistake of planning some of his career around an unofficial review of a school. Now he's taking additional classes to complete what he thought was a done-deal BA degree.

    Yes in the cases of TESC and Excelsior and a few others, the enrollment/evaluation fees can be quite HIGH. But after narrowing down your choices and taking gouge even from this forum, you still want the official review. Cover your a**....better yet, save time and money down the road.

    If you want to know what will be accepted by a school officially, get the official review, and see where you stand.

    But since you are in the military anyway, opt to do the military option (didn't know there was one, huh?). Only $150-$300 and your enrollment last a lot longer. The catch? you have to complete 12 credit hours at the school to satisfy the residency. But nevermind that, you can switch back to the regular enrollment (no residency) at anytime by paying the difference in enrollment fees.

    BTW, excelsior leads the way in making self-review easy by having downloadable self-review worksheets and download their respective degree catalogs to see what can fit where. But with military credits, this can be tricky (hence an actual review done by an actual admissions/academic counselor comes in handy).

    To answer your original question, the big 3 schools (Excelsior, TESC, COSC) will be your best bet in flexibility in transfer credits.

    http://www.dantescatalogs.com/DEDC/DEDCNav.asp is also a good source of schools.
     
  15. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    The "military option" is not an option for me. I'm currently a civilian, and have been for several years.

    I did check out the DANTES catalogue. It looks like my best options my be: TESC (still), Fort Hayes (but they offer a Bachelor of General Studies, not a BA, in journalism) and the University of Louisville (but I think it will take longer to obtain the BA going this route) and City University.

    It is my hope to obtain the BA in Journalism or Communications and then a Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications within the next four years. I will have to finance everything myself and with student loans (ugh).
     
  16. ybfjax

    ybfjax New Member

    Don't forget the MGIB....unless it's been 10 years. Get that claim in NOW to get the ball rolling.
     
  17. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    This is somewhat off-topic, but this has been a sore point for me for several years.

    At the time I was in the military (1983-1988), there was no GI Bill. Instead, there was another program called VEAP (Veterans Education Assistance Program). The way it worked was, for every dollar you put into it, Uncle Sam would kick in two dollars. At the end of my five year enlistment, I figured I had about $8,000 saved for my education. But when I went to a vocational school after my enlistment and tried to get my funds, the VA told me I could have have the whole amount, just a few hundred dollars. They told me the fund was only meant to "assist" in funding my education, not pay the full amount. In order to get all of my money, I had to keep enrolling for different courses. I told the VA to forget it, and give me the money I put into the program.

    I had been told for years I was not elegibile for any GI Bill benefits at all. Then recently, I did some digging online, and found out I did indeed qualify for GI Bill benefits because of my service in the Persian Gulf during the Iran/Iraq War. However, those benefits have now expired.

    I figured the LEAST I can get out of the whole deal as far as my education goes is full credit for my SMART military transcript, which is why I am trying to thoroughly explore my options now.

    You've got a good head on your shoulders. I sure wish I had pursued my education while I was in the Navy, instead of all the partying I did in every port. Oh well, live and learn.
     
  18. unixman

    unixman New Member

    As long as you served at some point, you may still be eligible for ACE/AARTS credits. See:

    http://aarts.army.mil/

    Cheers.
     
  19. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I was talking about the military option in terms of them paying for a portion of my education. That is no longer a viable option since the GI Bill for my service has expired.

    At the time I served, there really wasn't a good system in place to let outgoing veterans know exactly what their benefits were. The VA office I contacted in my home state also left a lot to be desired. I'm glad to see the military is doing a better job of informing enlisted men of their benefits. At least that's the impression I get.
     
  20. unixman

    unixman New Member

    Yeah, I hear ya. The worst mistake I ever made was waiting more than 10 years post-Army service to start my college trek. $30K down the drain. :(
     

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