Should I pursue a degree related to my MOS as 25B ?

Should you pursue a degree related to your MOS as a 25B? A few thoughts:
- Short answer is that it depends.
- Long answer is that I recommend you answer the below questions yourself which should lead you to an answer to your original question:
1. What are your personal and professional goals 1, 5, and 10 years out?
2. How long do you plan to remain within the military?
3. At what point do you plan to retire or ETS from the military?
4. How does obtaining a degree related to your MOS help you achieve your personal and professional goals either in or out of the military?
5. Depending upon your answers to the above, what other credentials other than a degree can and should you consider to help you achieve your personal and professional goals? Credentials can include but are not limited to: education, licenses, certifications.

As a fellow 25B, I would advise you think about this more so as a personal choice than a professional one. Do you want to make the military a career or purse the IT field after your initial contract is up? If so, by all means I encourage you to pursue your degree in IT. I'm currently working on my Associate's Degree in Computer Information Security through Central Texas College because I want to put in at least 20 years in the Army, hopefully retire as a CSM somewhere down the line. Personally, I don't want to do IT when I get out of the Army. I plan on doing my Bachelor's degree in Sports Medicine because I'm fascinated in kinesiology, the science of how the human body moves. Just keep that in mind brother.

http://www.faytechcc.edu/military-veterans/credit-for-military-training/

And this....

Thank you all for your responses

WO1 (Join to see) Working on a degree is an outstanding choice. Do you enjoy being an Information Technology Specialist, and want to continue in this field as a career? Are you considering the Army as a career? Below are the education requirements for a civilian career in this field. Best wishes.

Education requirements vary depending on the IT specialty. While some IT specialists work their way up with professional certifications, most experts begin their careers with an information technology degree at the associate or bachelor level. IT certifications are useful for building specialist expertise and staying up to date on the latest advances in a specific area of information technology

If you're using your benefits to pay for the degree and you plan to work in IT as a career outside of the military, sure. A degree isn't really required for positions below director level when working in IT. Once at the director level, pay in IT isn't really any different than officer level positions outside of IT. However, to secure a position as a director of IT a degree related to business management would probably be a better fit. So, if there is a field that seems more interesting than IT to you, I would suggest that you explore a degree in one of those fields. Pay in IT is more related to the quality of work you perform, how much of it you're willing to do, and the certifications that you hold. There are lousy programmers who make well over 100k a year in the market that I'm in, where extremely talented infrastructure folks often make less than 100k a year.

Ultimately, the answer depends on your goal. If your goal is to make excellent money and you don't mind working hard in addition to constantly learning new things, your effort and money is better spent on certifications than a degree.

Edward, Let me share with you my experiences. A college degree will always be great. But being a 25B, certifications are key along with the college degree. Depending on what area of 25B you are working (S6 shop, line unit) will also play a factor in it. In an S6 shop, you need to have network admin rights to the DoD network. So you will need to have certifications to meet the requirements. These are Network+ or Security+ and also an environmental certification such as a Microsoft cert. These certifications will get you 10 promotion points each (30 point max) in Civilian Education. Also, when going to college, if you have the certifications already they will sometimes credit you for the respective class(es) you would have taken to prepare for the certification exam.

If you are planning on staying in, remember it's not always going to be up to you. I planned to do 20 and retire, however injuries and other things prevented me from being able to do that. You need to be ready for whatever may come. I didn't have college while I was in, but I did have certifications. That's what got me going on the contractor side when I did get out. I am now doing college also to build things up. Just remember that college is a requirement for OCS. But I also want to put another path for you to consider, going Warrant. Think about what you enjoy doing and choose the path for a military career that follows that. If you go OCS, you are a manager. You will need to know what needs to be done and what things entail doing, but you will be hands off for the most part. If you go warrant, you will be hands on. You will be the subject matter expert and the technical lead for pretty much everything. So if you are more of a technician (such as I am) then warrant is the path you will want to look more heavily into.

Just step back, look at everything and what could happen. Then select a path that suits you and will allow you to be successful on whatever path life will throw you on. Good luck with everything, and wishing you success in whatever you choose.

Yes, if you want to make a career of IT whether you stay in or get out. Getting a degree could set you apart from your peers, and help you move up. You might be able to go to OCS with one, and you could, if you decide to go Warrant, be more competitive than others.....

Those letters after my name stand for Master of Software Engineering...and helped me get a good job with Booz Allen Hamilton (I'm USAR TPU).

I would recommend getting hands on experience before pursuing a degree in IT. Jot down everything you've done via STAR (Situation, Task, Action and Results). This will give you a foundation for jobs. Pursue certifications in areas that you are competent in.... I see too many people studying their ass off for CISSP and don't even work in Security.... and when they go for a security position and they start asking behavioral questions, duhhhhhh.

IT is one of those fields where a degree isn't the holy grail into getting a position. Employers want real world examples and that you are able to think on your feet and use the resources around you (Google, stackoverflow, youtube, etc).

But now it boils down to your own personal goals?
1) Are you planning on staying in the military past your original contract?
2) Commissioning in your sights?
3) Do you ever want to be in management?
4) Do you actually enjoy being in the field? And would you do the work for a low wage?

Depending on how young you were when you joined, you may not want to continue doing what you did in the military as a civilian. Lots of troops get out and pursue careers entirely unrelated to their military specialty. Sure lots of MPs become cops and 68s become EMTs...but lots of former infantry guys go into banking or real estate. Intel folks go into teaching or sales. The world is a lot bigger the younger you are and directional changes are easily absorbed into a life. I would advise anyone pursuing a degree to choose one that is marketable. If it's not very high demand like engineering, then pick a degree that makes you a better person and an intellectual addition to society.