Bachelor's Degree
 

Looking through most of these threads, I have not found current information on Bachelor's Degree programs directly for SOF specifically 18 series. If anyone has information on how to receive a Bachelor's with the least amount of headache, please let me know.
V/R John

You are going to have to take some classes somewhere but.....

Once you get your 18 series you can sign up at an local community college and then get your military records evaluated. Fayetteville Technical Community College has the main Campus but they have no clue what they are looking at. Best to take your records up to the Fort Bragg branch and have one of the retired guys do it.

What you get from your military schools does not translate directly to what you need for any degree. Like a degree might require 3 hours of PE but you'll have 15 or so.

When I got my associates degree it was 60 hours but I only had to take 18 hours to get it. I'd have to dig it out but IIRC my transcript has like 117 hours.

NC State colleges have to accept all 60 hours towards a 4 year degree (+/- 120 hours) - so you'll end up taking one years worth of classes. IIRC they require 25% or your courses from their campus.

Now Fayetteville State used to have a couple of military related degrees - but any specialized degree would require more specialized classes.

There is the on line option from some of those places that advertise on TV.

Edited to add

I see you're an 18D - you should do well in the sciences. Classes I had to take were Biology, Math, Intro to computers and some dumb ass course designed for somebody right out of high school.

I had my military experience transferred to college credits a little before I ETS'd. I think I got a little over 30 hours. There was a place (sorry, I can't bring the name up now) outside of Ft. Campbell in Clarksville that did it. I needed at least 30 hours for a course I was taking when I got out.
Not all of the credits may count towards your degree but it sure saves time and some money. There was a fee but it wasn't expensive.
I also knew of a few guys taking night classes (Online classes weren't a thing thing as I recall) working towards a degree.

Norwich University SSDA
 

I just finished up another degree with Norwich in March of this year. Their Strategic Studies and Defense Analysis degree is targeted at SF/SOF.

https://online.norwich.edu/academic-...fense-analysis

I'll guess that you've already checked out American Council on Education on an evaluation of MOSC and how that translates. Use the ACE guide and have that submitted to a program you desire. Some schools, as mentioned already, are much more familiar with this and will maximize your credits transferred.

Essentially it will cover most of the core classes of the degree program...

My only annoyance in the process was that the school I chose did not accept the SOF Functional Language course hours toward a language credit. That seemed ridiculous but as I said, some schools better understand military training.

Most importantly, pick a program that you have interest in and if you're doing it for a career change or improvement ensure it is applicable.


Best of luck

Step One: Get an evaluation.

That simply means take a list of everything you've done in the Army (and civilian world too) to a college that prides itself on being a Servicemember Opportunity College). Sit down with a counselor, and see what you have already done that will qualify as college credit. Example:

CLEP Basic Examinations. These are worth your entire freshman year of college (if you make a high enough score).

The basic idea of the CLEP and DANTES (and other credits by examination only) programs is this:

Some professor nerd designs a test to see if the students have a working knowledge of facts and processes involved in a certain subject that is taught as a course in college. The professor nerd then gives the test to students who actually took the class. Those scores (of the students who actually took the class) are ranked. Then, the test is given to persons who did NOT take the class. The students who did NOT take the class have a simple goal: score equal or above those students who actually took the class.

In other words, what you scored (right/wrong) on the examination is not as important as how you rank when compared to those who DID take the class. While you will get a "raw score" from a CLEP or DANTE's test, that's not important. What your college will look at is your "percentile rank," that is, how many of the MF's who actually TOOK the damn class did you outscore? Each college sets its own percentile for you to be granted the credit. Some may be as low as 50%ile. That is, if you -- who never took the class -- can outscore half of those who DID take the class, well, you get credit. More likely, the college will expect 70-75%ile. That is, you must outscore 70 or 75 (out of 100) who actually took the class to be awarded credit for the class.

My system for CLEP and DANTES was rather straightforward. One week before the test on, say "Humanities" I would go to the post library and check out two or three textbooks on "Humanities." Art, Literature, History, that soft mushy stuff. In other words, I'd "cram" for the exam. I'd take the test, then forget about it. On to the next subject, return the previous textbooks, check out the text subject area books on next weeks test. Cram, test, repeat.

My CLEP scores were high enough for Campbell College to knock out my entire freshman year.

Next step:

DANTES Standardized subject examinations. Each one covers -- as the name implies -- one subject. So again, whether it is construction engineering, healthful living (wash your hands and brush your teeth), even basic mechanics (when to use a torque wrench, when to use a box end wrench, how to tighten the screws on a flat plate, that sort of thing) pick a book or two, read up on the subject, and take the test.

Next step: Look for college credit for service schools you completed (your AIT is a start). Go to the ACE Guide for the Accreditation of Service Schools. My experience was:

12A10 Pioneer Engineer (a basic combat engineer) was worth 3 credit hours in the field of Construction Engineering.

12B40 Combat Engineer Sergeant (the old Combat Engineer NCO "shake and bake") was worth credits for Construction Foreman.


Infantry OCS (the old 23 week program) was worth credits for "Military Leadership," and "Physical Fitness").

Special Forces Officer Course was worth credits for "Communications Electronics" (the old shortwave radios with Morse code, and "Basic First Aid").

Your mileage may vary.

Ranger, Jumpmaster, Air Assault and Pathfinder were worth zero college credits "due to the military nature of the courses."

Finally, see what waivers, equivalencies, and constructive credits your college or university will give you. Military personnel can often get the PT requirement waived. Some colleges give "freebie" credits just for being on active duty as in "Military Science in lieu of ROTC, two credit hours for each full year of active duty, not to exceed 12 hours for six years of active duty."

(Yeah, I nailed that one , too).

Don't be surprised to discover that after scraping and grubbing up tests, schools, waivers, and implied credits ... you are a sophomore or even a high ranking junior, ready to finish up a senior year and graduate.

But remember, no matter how many credits you can scrape up (and you will need 128 - 130 to get a degree) you can still run up against two big hurdles:

1 - Almost every college or university will want you to come set foot on their campus and establish "residency" at their institution before they will give you a degree. Typically, that's one year.

2 - Just racking up 128-130 credit hours may or may not lead to a degree. Some colleges do award a "degree of General Studies" and that means, yes, the student just collected a basket full of credits in many subjects. More likely, and of more importance if you have goals onward for law, MBA, MD, etc. is making sure you have the right credits in the right "bundles" to declare a "major" and have your degree actually recite, for example: a "Bachelor of Science in Government."

CSB "knows stuff." Spot-on. During my first four-year stint, I racked-up three years of college. Got an Associates degree plus another year. I'd do something similar to CSB: take a course such as "Finite Mathematics" on campus nights and weekends you're not in the field. Then go CLEP or DANTES the next higher-level course. You'd usually smoke it.

Problem is that I then went to Boston College where they said: "Yes, we're impressed. How do you wish to apply these credits?" What they meant was that they would only take the core credits for an actual degree program. For example, all the medical stuff would apply ONLY if I was pursuing a nursing degree. What everything boiled down to was they accepted one year of the core subjects out of the three years I had. I didn't bitch too much as at the time BC was 25K a year (I was only getting 200 bucks a month out of VEAPs if any of ya'll remember that piece of crap program), so I quickly went into debt; but it saved me a year's tuition.

If you KNOW what degree you want to pursue, knock the core credits out (math, english, science, history), and then go on to pursue courses in that field. You will get more hours applied towards your degree but any school WILL require a certain residency or amount of courses to be taken under their purview.

Good luck!!

You got that right....I remeber it well!

Western Carolina 18D BS Emergency Medical Care
 

I did Western Carolina University 18D program about 12yrs ago. You get a lot of credits from Mil service and your 18D courses.

They require a minimum of 30 credit hours, no matter what, to fulfill the BS degree.

Good luck!