Each decade the percentage of the population attending college rises and with this change new challenges become evident. As colleges and universities across the country recognize the need for diverse student bodies, one of the first tasks in today's colleges should be to understand what special populations already exist within the student body. One group that can be classified as a special population is members of the armed forces. More than three-quarters of a million service members enrolled in undergraduate programs in 2003 (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support Agency, 2004).
Service members can be classified into populations such as army, navy, Marine Corps, air force, coast guard, air national guard, army national guard, and members of the reserve components. These populations can then be divided into metapopulations, which include spouses, dependents, and veterans. Recognizing each population and metapopulation through identification and providing the correct training for a college's staff can help each institution fulfill its goal of educating. It can also help to shed light on problems that may be unique to that population. For example, service members often have significant experience in a highly specialized area but need a degree to show future employers that they have college-level learning. Differentiation of students into various populations can also help education providers better determine what services and resources are already in place and what services are missing and should be examined for implementation.
Military academic advising is not just transcripts and unfamiliar military terms. The military student has additional needs in the form of re-familiarization with collegiate terms and concepts. Service members need to adjust their vocabulary to one that advisers understand, and advisers should learn the common terms in a service member's language so that advisers and students can communicate effectively. Advisers should be proactive and encouraging, giving military students solid and consistent advisement about the many avenues to earn college-level credit.
Military students have access to a variety of resources that can help them attain college-level credit. Each branch of the military has its own program to help students to achieve a college degree. Awareness of these resources can help advisers to refer students to programs specific to their needs. Military education is federally funded through the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) agency, which manages off-duty voluntary education for service members. DANTES facilitates education through a variety of means, one of which is providing educational assistance at the service member's local education center on base (Thirtle, 2001). Most major bases have an education center that has professional staff trained in the programs unique to that branch of service. The following chart identifies resources that students in major military populations may contact with educational questions.
| Population | Active Duty Army | Active Duty Navy | Active Duty Air Force | Active Duty and Reserve Coast Guard | Army National Guard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point of Contact for Educational Questions | Education center on base | Navy college office on base/ship | Education center on base | Education services officer on base/ship | Unit and state education officer |
A significant part of military advising is ensuring that students are awarded credit for their military experiences. Military training is evaluated for college-level credit by the American Council on Education (ACE), which has been recommending credit for military courses and jobs for over five decades (ACE, 2003). College advisers determining the appropriate amount of credit for military-related activities should use the ACE credit evaluations as guidelines. These evaluations ensure that advisers use uniform standards to award credit based on military service and that students are awarded the correct amount of credit for their military experiences, based on the documentation that students provide.
One source of college-level ACE-evaluated credit for active duty, reserve, and national guard members as well as veterans is military education. In most cases, military schools attended by service members are listed on an ACE registry transcript from the branch of service or on a DD-214, which is a certificate of discharge for veterans. To have these experiences evaluated for credit, a student should have his or her transcript sent directly to his/her college or university to ensure the integrity of the document. Members of the army, navy, and Marine Corps are eligible to receive an ACE registry transcript directly from ACE. The air force does not use an ACE registry but instead uses the Community College of the Air Force, a regionally accredited degree-granting community college, to document military experiences for college-level credit. The coast guard uses a transcript-issuing service through the Coast Guard Institute. Based on ACE recommendations, this service issues transcripts to colleges for the awarding of college-level credit for members of the coast guard. The army national guard uses a transcript-providing agency known as the National Guard Education Support Center, which can issue official transcripts based on ACE-evaluated military experiences.
The following chart provides basic information to guide advisers on where and how to help a service member request a transcript to show possible college-level credit based on military experiences. The chart is not all-inclusive. It is only meant to provide a general overview for advisers who have contact with military populations.
| Population | Official Transcript | Time Frame for Eligibility | Source for Transcript |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army, army reserves, and army national guard | Ace Registry transcript | Enlisted soldiers who entered active duty after January 1, 1984, are eligible | http://aarts.army.mil 1-866-297-4427 |
| Navy and navy reserves | Ace Registry transcript | Soldiers who entered active duty after 1976 are eligible | https://smart.cnet.navy.mil/ 1-877-253-7122 |
| Marine and marine reserves | Ace Registry transcript | Active-duty marines and marines who left active duty after October 1, 1999, are eligible | https://smart.cnet.navy.mil/ 1-877-253-7122 |
| Air force, air force reserves, and air national guard | Community College of the Air Force transcript | Soldiers who entered active duty after 1972 are eligible | http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/ccaf/active_transc.htm 334-953-2794 |
| Coast guard and coast guard reserves | Coast Guard Institute official transcript | Active duty and reserve members are eligible | http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cgi/forms.html 1-800-881-2462 |
| Army national guard | Army national guard official transcript | Active guard members are eligible | http://www.virtualarmory.com/home-Public.asp 1-866-628-5999 |
| All veterans from all branches | DD-214 official certificate of discharge | Any | http://vetrecs.archives.gov National Personnel Records Center Military Personnel Records 9700 Page Avenue St Louis, MO 63132 |
In response to the need for standardization among colleges in helping military members to earn college degrees, Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) was created in 1972. The organization comprises approximately 1,700 colleges and universities that agree to meet certain criteria, such as limiting residencies for military members and accepting ACE credit recommendations for military training. SOC is cosponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), in cooperation with thirteen other educational associations, the military services, the national guard, and the coast guard. SOC is funded by the Department of Defense (DOD) through a contract with AASCU (SOC, 2004). The contract is managed for DOD by DANTES (SOC, 2004).
Service members, veterans, and reservists can earn college credit in various ways. Understanding that each branch has its own resources that a service member can access is the first step in solid academic advising of military populations. Each branch has trained professionals in place to help guide service members through a complex network of tuition assistance, transferability of credits, and military documentation. Service members attending college in today's socioeconomically turbulent times require recognition of the special circumstances that they may encounter while attending college. Having trained staff capable of understanding the service member's unique situation helps to facilitate a positive learning community.