I've been attending American Military University off and on for years and I don't really care for it. They seem to keep re-evaluating my credits and sending ones that used to fulfill their general education requires and place them as electives. Their prior learning assessments are expensive and very limited. The main reason I've stayed with it because they don't charge for books and everything can be covered under military tuition assistance. I was thinking of switching to one of BIG 3 and would like to know if it would even be worth while? AMU's classes seem to become much more writing intense over the years and less tests, I would kind of like to get away from that. I have completed 30 hours with AMU and have over 90 military training hours per the ACE guide. I would like to try to earn some credits from PLA but can't really afford to spend a lot.
Hi ozuye. A warm welcome to Degree Info. There are a number of members here who have attended AMU, hopefully someone will provide an answer for you. Unfortunately, this is all I have to offer: The Clash
Hi Ozuye, Contact Bob Frederick, the Assistant Director of Admissions at Charter Oak State College at [email protected]. Let him know your situation and that you'd like to find out whether the school might help you reach your goals. He's very friendly, an expert on credit for military training, and he's likely to help you as much as it takes for you to make an informed decision before you have to apply, which most schools won't do. Good luck, -=Steve=-
What is your major? That will be one of the main factors in choosing to leave AMU and choosing between the Big 3. Honestly, if I were you, I would apply to all 3 schools. Charter Oak is nice and all, but you won't know how your credits will exactly transfer until you apply and get an evaluation. They couldn't even tell me how they apply credits for the subject GRE tests. Even when you get an evaluation before enrolling, the evaluation won't be super detailed. TESC gives the most detailed evaluation, but has bad customer service. I went with them anyway because of how my credits were applied. I applied to all three schools. Excelsior was my last choice, but everyone's different.
I'm a General Studies major currently but thought about switching to Emergency Management because I have over 10 years experience in the field. The reason why I didn't choose that major right away is because AMU gave me nothing for my FEMA training. I also work with a GS12 FEMA planner and they gave her nothing as well. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. It really makes me reluctant to attempt a PLA portfolio with them, seems like they'll take your money and tell you no.
You can use FEMA's free independent study courses toward a degree at COSC or TESC. Excelsior accepts them, but they require that they be transcripted by another college such as Frederick Community College which charges around $77 per credit hour. I don't know if you can use FEMAs toward a Public Safety degree at COSC. They are otherwise free electives only except for two-one credit FEMAs that might fit into general education electives. TESC also only counts FEMAs as free electives except for in two degrees. They can be used in the area of study (major) for the AAS in Environmental, Safety, and Security Technologies and BS in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. If you have ACE-approved FEMA training, then that is a different story. Those would probably be counted as regular courses if they can be matched with something that will fit in a degree program.
By all means, contact TESC and Excelsior as well. I suggest talking to Bob simply because I know him personally (he was my admissions counselor back in the day!) so I know he can advise you well.
Hi Ozuye, I am a professor in the EM program at AMU and would love to help. First question - what FEMA courses are you trying to get credit for? If they are IS courses, you are not going to get much, if any. Resident courses will get you some credit as long as they line up with a degree program as others have noted. What most people fail to realize about trying to get credit for FEMA courses is that there is a distinct difference between education and training. IS courses are training and not worth much for credit beyond elective or limited 100-level credit. I have had numerous FEMA employees in my courses who have gotten credit for their work training, but they had to document it and provide support - credit is not automatically given to someone because they get a paycheck from FEMA. Feel free to shoot me a PM.
Preparing a PLA requires quite a bit of effort - finding a existing university course that matches your learning, documenting your learning, producing supporting evidence, and so on. At Redlands University I prepared 4 portfolios - two based on my engineering experience, one on rock climbing, and one on divorce. I never got to submit them though as I dropped the degree program and relocated across the US.
Truckie, I have more but the courses I tried to get credit for were ICS 300, 346, and 400. All multi-day resident training and cover nearly everything covered in lower level EM courses. Also the train the trainer course for ICS 300. I also went to a 5 week Port/coastal Security course that they gave me nothing for as well.
This program might be of interest to you: Emergency, Fire, and Security | Associate and Bachelor's Degrees | SUNY Empire State College
