The Navy is more serious about education today than ever before. Beginning with the 2010 Senior Chief Selection board, Sailors will need a rating-related associate degree to move beyond the rank of chief petty officer. 

NAVADMIN 203/05 lists the requirements. It is extremely important that each of you become familiar with this NAVADMIN and that you develop a roadmap to attain your degrees on time.  The NAVADMIN also includes some grandfather clauses for those sailors who already have a degree, or are enrolled in a college or university and have started a plan.

I would like to discuss why you should have a degree roadmap. As you can probably guess, earning a degree takes time and hard work. It’s important for you to map out a realistic plan to attain a degree, rather than just start college and hope for the best.

Developing a degree roadmap can help you achieve a rating-relevant degree by making full use of the most of recommended credit for Navy training and on-the-job experience.  It also directs you to Navy partnerships with colleges and universities that offer degrees through distance education for all enlisted ratings.

Your first step in planning for a degree should be to visit to a Navy College office. The Navy College Program (NCP) provides sailors with opportunities to earn college degrees by reviewing academic credit for Navy training, work experience, and off-duty education. The NCP mission is to enable Sailors to obtain a college degree while on active duty.

In addition, Navy College offices offer a wide range of other services, including:  Academic advice; Academic Skills; Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES); Navy College Program for Afloat College Education (NCPACE); NCP Distance Learning Partnership Schools; Sailor/Marine American Council of Education Registry Transcript (SMART); Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges Navy (SOCNAV); and Tuition Assistance (TA).

If you are new to the Navy with little or no college, I think you will be amazed how user-friendly Navy College is and how helpful they can be.  If you’ve been in the Navy for a while, and have attended some Navy schools, you may be amazed to find how much college credit you get.  Achieving an associate degree might not be very difficult at all!

This brings me to an important point. While attaining a degree shouldn’t be extremely difficult, conversely it shouldn’t be too easy. It’s important you enroll in a program with an accredited college or university. You should protect yourself from falling prey to a college degree scam.  I recently saw a news report that highlighted the number of “diploma mills” that have sprung up around the country and world, facilitated mainly by the Internet.

The report was disturbing, not just to me, but also to almost all who work in academics. The old adage, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is” applies. My advice to each of you is to consult Navy College and ensure the program you choose to enroll in is at a legitimate college or university.

If you choose to obtain a degree without the advice of the Navy College counselors, here are a few tips to help you protect yourself:

Don’t limit your research to classified ads or survey the Web in search of the right course or program.

See if the online school is accredited and by whom.  Check to see if the accrediting agency is officially sanctioned.

Check with licensing boards and professional associations to see if the program delivers an acceptable level of training.

Call or write the Better Business Bureau and the attorney general’s office to make sure the school is operating legally in a state and see if anyone has filed a complaint.

Find out if the school is connected to an established, reputable parent company.

If you intend to transfer and online credits earned to another college or university, early on check with that institution to see if they accept those credits.

Ask about the faculty? Who teaches the course? What degrees do they have? What is their area of expertise?

Refer to the published guides of online correspondence and other distance delivered courses.

Shipmates, the Navy has provided enough advance notice of the new degree requirements, however, it’s up to you to motivate yourself and enroll in college now. 

Earning a degree will boost your confidence, improve your intelligence, make you a more rounded adult, and make you more competitive in the civilian world when you depart the Navy. 

See you around the campus!