More College Credit to be Given for Military Training

By Debbie Gregory.

Approximately one million US Military Veterans of the Global War on Terror have enrolled in colleges and universities. A major complaint of these Veteran Students is that they feel that they are not given adequate college credits for the training and qualifications they have received while serving in the military.

In response to this grievance, which grows with every GI Bill admission, law makers and higher education officials in seven states have come together to award credits to Veteran Students  for their military education.

Representatives from seven Midwestern states, including Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri, have formed what some members are referring to as the Multi-State Collaborative on Military Credit. The collaborative agreed to accept recommendations from the American Council on Education (ACE) when considering how much prior-learning credit to assign to a Veteran Student.

The Council credits itself on their website as being “the nation’s most visible and influential higher education association.” The council and its approximately 1,800 members from universities, colleges and institutes of higher learning can be credited with a historic commitment to adult learners.

The ACE has been making recommendations for military training credits for decades. Their military training program reviews include visits to bases by educators who are on contract with the council.

The Multi-State Collaborative on Military Credit would like to have more access to information about the credit recommendation process. They feel that colleges in their states would award more credits to Veteran Students if they had access to a more thorough summation of military curriculums. Educators from the seven states would like to know more about the specific modes of instruction and types of assessments in military training.

Officials at the ACE have already discussed the release of more information about their military credit recommendations. While much of the data is already available, the ACE supports moves to help colleges make broader, appropriate uses of credit recommendations.