Being a successful Sailor in today’s Navy is a full-time job!  Many would think that, in addition to a demanding work schedule in a challenging career and the responsibilities of a family, there would be no time for a Sailor to fulfill the dream of earning a college degree. Yet, record numbers of Sailors are making time to take college courses, thanks to a wide spectrum of assistance programs now available in the Navy.

Under the Navy College Program, several programs are offered to help Sailors earn a college degree. A visit to the local Navy College Office (NCO) is a logical first step to learn about the wide variety of college level examinations available, such as the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) Examination Program, the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and the Defense Subject Standardized Tests (DSST) program. 

In these programs and others, Sailors can take tests in a variety of subjects and receive recommended college credit for each test successfully completed. There are also several college admission tests given through the NCOs, including the Scholastic

Assessment Test (SAT), the (ACT) Assessment Program. The Graduate Record Exam may be taken at certain testing sites off-base and DANTES will reimburse the Sailor for the cost of the test. The Sailor must personally fund the test administration fee. One of the more popular educational assistance programs is the Tuition Assistance (TA) program. Through TA, Sailors can apply for financial support to help them complete their college degree.

Starting in Fiscal Year 2003 (October 2002), the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) began funding 100 percent of authorized tuition and fees for Sailors, up to a maximum of $250 per semester hour for up to 12 semester hours per fiscal year.

The $250 per semester hour (or semester hour equivalent) payment applies only to authorized tuition and fees related to course enrollment; it does not apply to books or other expenses. The 12-semester hour limit (per fiscal year) applies to all pay grades.

The FY03 TA program was enormously successful with over 52,000 participants taking more than 132,000 courses, and as of 31 August, the FY04 program had over 55,000 Sailors taking more than 137,000 courses. 

More Sailors than ever before in the history of the TA program, are participating with higher overall program benefits.  In building today’s TA program, a great deal of study and discussion amongst the Navy’s senior leadership (officer and enlisted) took place to ensure the program was designed and implemented to benefit the most

Sailors possible, with maximum benefits within available program resources.

Many interesting facts were discovered during the research phase of this effort. First, tuition costs for almost all educational programs are rising dramatically and are expected to continue in the coming years. 

In general, tuition rates have been and are expected to continue rising upwards of 10 percent per year, thereby significantly increasing overall TA program costs. Additionally, input from the Navy’s Fleet and Force Master Chiefs indicated that the current TA program fully supports reasonable academic pursuits for most Sailors given the amount of time available for classes while still holding down a full-time Navy assignment.

Finally, an extensive review of the past five years of TA program enrollment statistics revealed that a high majority of Sailors used TA for 12 semester hours or less of coursework per year.  Therefore, the current 12-semester hour limit seemed like a reasonable program criterion to best support our Sailors and keep program funding levels within available resources.

Clearly, there are exceptional circumstances that the current TA program does not fully accommodate, and for individuals in this category, a waiver process is available. Waivers are formal written requests, endorsed by the individual Sailor’s Commanding Officer, and reviewed by a waiver board at the NETC headquarters.  This waiver review board is comprised of senior Sailors and experienced educational program specialists. Their charter is to individually review each waiver application and make a determination if the case warrants granting a program waiver.

Every waiver package is critically reviewed to determine the Sailor’s program status, including progress toward a significant academic milestone (Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, or other degree) or professional certification, PRD/PCS dates, sea or shore duty status, availability of alternative funding such as Veteran’s Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) or GI Bill, and other significant factors affecting program completion.  There is no single set of criteria that automatically qualifies for waiver approval; each waiver request is treated individually on its own merits. 

Obviously, waiver requests for additional support beyond the DoD program limit of $4,500 per year will not be approved.  As a matter of interest, less than 2 percent of the FY03 TA program participants requested waivers for additional funding, and the FY04 data are similar.

The Navy remains fully committed to enhance the personal and professional development of Sailors through increased educational opportunities. All indications are that the Navy’s TA program has been extremely successful in helping achieve that goal. Over 35 percent more Sailors are participating in TA this year than in FY02, and almost 80 percent of the Sailors using TA are in pay grades E-4 through E-7.

While TA is one of the more popular programs, most Sailors have also elected to contribute to the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB), which can be used alone while on active duty, or in conjunction with TA, to fund college courses.  The MGIB Tuition Assistance Top Up is available to pay those costs not covered by TA.

Another Navy College Program designed to help Sailors continue their education while deployed aboard ships is the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education (NCPACE). All NCPACE college courses are provided by accredited colleges and universities, and both undergraduate and graduate level courses are available.

NCPACE courses are funded 100 percent by the Navy with the individual Sailor only paying for books. NCPACE allows Sailors to continue pursuit of their educational goals while on sea duty assignments.

In response to many Sailors’ need for greater access to higher education, the Navy College Program has also developed various new partnerships with colleges and universities to offer rating-related degrees via distance learning. These education partnerships provide Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree programs related to various ratings, and make maximum use of military professional training and experience to fulfill degree requirements.

The goal of the Navy College Program Distance Learning Partnership schools is to support both the Sailor’s mobile lifestyle and varied educational goals. Courses are offered in a variety of formats, such as CD-ROM, videotape, video teleconferencing and web-based.

The Servicemember’s Opportunity Colleges, Navy (SOCNAV) has 85 accredited colleges offering specific Associate’s and Bachelor’s degrees to Navy members worldwide through both residential and distance learning. The advantage of SOCNAV is twofold.  Member institutions agree to requiring only a minimum of 25 percent of the courses to be taken from the home institution and they agree to

guarantee transferability of certain courses from other SOCNAV institutions.

In conclusion, today’s Sailors have completed more education when they enter the Navy than any earlier generation, and they are more aggressively pursuing additional education than ever before. 

Furthermore, education will increasingly play an important role in the success of the 21st century Sailor. The wide variety of available Voluntary Education (VOLED) programs will strongly complement specific Navy education and training programs, providing all Sailors a broad and rich array of opportunities to fulfill career-long learning needs and desires. 

This educational commitment and momentum will benefit the Navy, the Sailor and the nation, increasing operational readiness, improving individual performance and developing better citizens.