Get credits, Get promoted!

[Professor_Adam]

I started my journey to get a degree way back in 1994 in the Marine Corps. If I had know then what I know now (as a Soldier) I would have been done with my degree much sooner. I am putting this thread together to help all those who are now attempting to do the same thing: earn your degree while on active-duty. In most ways, earning a degree while on active-duty is the easiest and cheapest option you have – despite deployments and field training. I have broken this thread down with subheadings to help servicemembers achieve their specific goals – and get promoted!

Promotion points

In the Army promotion system it takes 67 semester hours (on one transcript) to maximize the 100 promotion points available. For most Soldiers the quickest path to 67 semester hours will be through a combination of CLEP exams and getting your military training and experience evaluated. Many schools require you to complete 6 semester hours with them before doing a “free” evaluation of your military credits. Depending on your MOS, rank, and training, you could get as many as 30 semester hours right there.

If you’re in a hurry you can pay colleges like NCI, Thomas Edison State College or Excelsior to do an evaluation through a credit bank option. NCI is among the cheapest of these services. However, if your ultimate goal is to get a degree, I highly recommend starting with a four-year RA school like Excelsior, TESC or Chater Oaks. In my experience, Excelsior is the most military friendly and the friendliest of the bunch to work with.

If you’re in the Army you will need to access your AARTS transcript through https://aartstranscript.army.mil. There you can view your “personal” transcript or click on “official” transcript to have it sent to the college of your choice. This service is completely free and automated – no mailing in forms!

If you’re in the Navy or Marine Corps (or used to be!) you can access all your training and school information via the SMART transcript web site at https://smart.navy.mil/. Now on that site you will have to print out and mail in your transcript request. However, it too is free.

Testing

Every military education center offers free exams which usually include CLEP, DSST, Excelsior College Exams and sometimes Thomas Edison exams. After you get credit for all of your military training you need to start knocking these exams out. The best way to study for these exams is to join www.instacert.com The site uses a unique flashcard system to help you learn the basics for each subject exam. To see a full list of exams available via CLEP go to CLEP For Military Personnel The DSST exams and fact sheets are located at DSST - GetCollegeCredit.com
A full list of Excelsior Exams can be found here https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_Coll...aminations
The Excelsior site also has free exam content guides, just like CLEP and DSST exams, which you can download for free.

Prior to showing up for these exams you’ll want to lookup the four-digit testing code for your college – use Google for this. The reason you want to do this is because if you pass the exam, CLEP/DSST or ECE will send a free official transcript of those results to the college code you entered. This will save you money later. Normally a CLEP transcript costs $20.

FEMA Independent Study Courses

This is another way to earn fast, cheap college credits for your degree or promotion points. Simply go to Emergency Management Institute - FEMA Independent Study Program pick out your course and download the study materials. Once you pass the exam, go on to the next course. Excelsior College and TESC will accept 25 of these for credit. That’s 25 semester hours of credit. Many of these courses (I’m told) can be knocked out in a day or two. So, if you’re highly motivated this is possibly the fastest way to get promotion points and credits.

Now, to get these FEMA Courses transcripted you’ll need to send them to TESC who will accept them “raw.” Or, you can send them to FCC using this web site Frederick Community College (FCC) - Free Content Management System. It costs $60 to get this accomplished, but once you do you can send the FCC transcript to whatever RA college you’re using. Just make sure to check with your advisor to ensure they will transfer.

If anyone else has college promotion tips for the military or something to add to what I already mentioned, please feel free to post to this thread.