Hey! An acquaintance told me something about receiving college credits for serving in the military. Can someone please explain how does that work? Is it valid for all courses or only specific ones?
Yes, you can receive college credits for military service. The amount and type of credit you receive can vary greatly from school to school, however. Here’s how it generally works:
Your military training and experience can be translated into academic credits through the Joint Services Transcript (JST) system. The JST provides a description of your military schooling and work history in civilian language. It serves as a transcript of your military training and experiences.
Regarding the specific courses the credits can be valid for, it mostly depends on your particular military training and the policies of the college or university you're attending. Some schools may give general elective credits, while others may apply them to certain requirements. Keep in mind, it's up to the discretion of each institution to decide how much credit to grant and for what courses.
Institutions often use the American Council on Education (ACE) guidelines to determine how many credits to award. ACE helps translate military training/experience into potential college credit by providing unbiased evaluations of what was learnt and recommending what could be an equivalent college course.
Just remember to confirm the credit transfer policy with your college of interest beforehand so that you have a clear understanding of what to expect.
CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.