Taking Back the Term:
“Military Friendly”
• Kathy McMurtry Snead
• Director, SOC
Basic Requirement for Term Usage:
• Credit Recognition for Military Training
and Experience
• Active Engagement with Military and
Veteran Students
• Public Commitment to Helping
Military/Veteran Students Succeed
• Accountability Mechanisms for Tracking
Success
DoD Investment in Military Training
• Overall budget request for Training and Education
$11.3 Billion FY 2012 DoD
• $3 Billion requested for Recruit Training and
Specialized Skills Training in FY 2012
• American Council on Education contract with
DoD/DANTES for military evaluation program since
1945. Equivalent credit recommendations produced
in the Guide to the Evaluation of Educational
Experiences in the Armed Services
Evaluated Credit for Military
Training = TA Cost Avoidance
• Non-traditional prior learning credits
awards from 162 SOC Degree Network
System Schools
• 764,000 evaluated credits applied toward
degrees /45,000 servicemembers
• 13.77 average semester hours, 2-year degrees
• 20.71 average semester hours, 4-year degrees
• More than $191 million in cost avoidance,
given $250 per credit hour (TA)
Evaluated Credit for Military
Training = TA Cost Avoidance
Servicemember Benefits for Evaluated
Credit Recognition of Military Training
• Communicates “college-capable” message to enrolling
servicemembers
• Institutional value statement about military service to
country (affirmation that veterans and military students
matter to school)
• Motivates a servicemember toward degree completion for
advanced academic progress and prior learning
• Accelerates their entry into the work world by shortening
their degree completion time
• Optimizes TA and VA educational benefits for
additional certificates, degrees
Active Engagement with
Military Students
Examples include:
• Form an working group to explore responsive ways to meet
military population needs. Engage servicemembers/
veterans in efforts to identify concerns, and develop and
implement solutions.
• Host focus groups of veterans and servicemembers on
institutional policies and services
• Build a strong web presence with interactive options for
online military students
• Provide opportunities for participation in student veteran
clubs such as the Student Veterans of America.
Public Commitment to Helping
Military Students Succeed
It’s not specifically WHAT you do to help the military
student population enrolled at your institution…
Rather that you DO SOMETHING specifically to address
their educational needs, focusing on degree completion
and other student success indicators/measures.
Public Commitment to Helping
Military Students Succeed
Examples include:
• Establishing a “center”— a gathering space
• Borrowing elements of existing programs with positive
impact; promising practices
• Replicating entire programs with proven results
• Creating new initiatives based on feedback from your
military students.
Accountability Mechanism(s) for
Tracking
Examples include:
1. Expand IPEDS definition for tracking students to
include military students in the cohort and reporting.
2. Improve self-reporting and data systems at institution,
state and federal agency levels to better track military
students and veterans.
3. Institutions should continue to offer flexible enrollment
opportunities for military students, and develop
appropriate definitions of retention and persistence for
this population.
We must work across institutional or
sectoral lines with stakeholders in
associations, advocacy groups, and
legislative bodies
Because the goal – to make sure that
military and veteran students and their
families get the best possible education
at institutions that treat them fairly and
with respect – is truly military-friendly.