What is your plan on "getting r done?" Civilian Education and Lifelong Learning (associates, bachelor's, master's, doctorate)

Working as a PSG in the WTU a few years back, I watched MANY Soldiers in the process of transitioning out of the Army with little done to set themselves up for success. The bottom line is when you go on USA Jobs, if you want a decent paying job, a bachelors degree is a min. requirement just to get in the door. It is disheartening to see those who have sacrificed so much and focused so much on their career to be left standing flat-footed once they are out. The sad thing is that much of what you've done and accomplished means very little in comparison to the accomplishment of completing your degree.
I am fortunate enough to be in an enlisted MOS that gives me a professional civilian license that enables me to get a job tonight if I needed to, but there are very few MOS's that do this.
A standard I've always tried to hold my guys to is to just take one class per semester, no matter what it was. I call it building your "credit." It does 2 things. It keeps you in mental shape to stay fresh in college level classes and it gets you one class closer to that little peace of paper that can change your life, your families life. As COL Lindenmeyer said; "get r done!"

Thank you CPT Aaron Kletzing for the heads up on this discussion. I entered the military with a bachelor's degree and went through ROTC. While still TPU (reservist) I started my Master's Degree utilizing my tuition assistance because my career (teacher) required me to have an additional 24 college hours post bachelor's within 6 years to keep my certificate to be able to have my profession still. So why not do a few more and get a Master's? I had decided to do it online. I am glad that I did that as I went AGR (full-time in the Army Reserves) and then completed my Master's a few months before I deployed. Since I was utilizing tuition assistance I did not have to take a certain amount of classes a term so I generally took one a term. After my deployment I was bored and figured why not go for a PhD so I applied and I am utilizing my Post 9/11 GI Bill. Due to be limited by time I had to go for two courses a quarter to keep within the timeline to not run out of benefits before I graduate. I am in my dissertation phase now and working on my research portion now. It is rough trying to balance work (company command and battalion plans officer), school, and have a life. So I decided, like most going for a PhD, that I can have a life after I graduate. I put my energy first in work and then in school. I have my parents pushing me to help me complete milestones based on my self-imposed deadlines. I plan to finish by March 2015. I am looking forward to graduating and not having to worry about another degree until War College. The only worry I have is that I am putting myself out of a job after the military as I will have a PhD and what school district will want to hire me to teach high school if I could teach college?

Education is more than just promotion points. Too many service members are interested in trying to maximize their points by taking CLEP/DANTES exams. Some even pay higher learning institutions to evaluate their AARTS transcripts to get credits that get points but do not necessarily help them for their post-military career that comes up faster than they realize. Don't get me wrong, there are many fields that have rediculously high promotion points to make it to the E-5/E-6 level. Without maxing civilian education, even the best eligible candidates can be left behind. Do what is necessary to max them out as soon as possible if that is your mid-term goal (4-year approx time frame), but focus on degree completion from a regionally accredited college. Sometimes that falls under a long-term goal (10-year time frame). These times have drastically reduced now that the deployments are slowing down. Education is incredibly expensive. On the outside, the majority f colleges only reduce tuition rates 10% for veterans so please use the DOD to pay the $4,500 a year towards your education every year. Colleges want that government money and they are prone to lower the rates to the exact maximum tuition that the government will allow. Again, post military tuition give the 10% off but the tuition rates are usually double then. No one wants to try paying $30,000 in student loans at approximately $350 a month for years to come. Let the military pay for your education. Remember all those leaders that said that they were "real soldiers" so they didn't have time for school? That is a statement made by people who are most likely scrambling now that they are civilians.
I spent my entire military career going to school whenever schools or deployments didn't make it impossible. Back in the day, we spent 2-3 years at one location going to the 4 or so schools that offered night classes on post. If you didn't finish the degree before you PCS'd you could find yourself at another assignment where they didn't even offer your degree at night. You found yourself changing majors, often several times. Online schooling has practially eliminated that nightmare. Again, ensure it is regionally accredited if you decide on that route.
Start your education now. It is never too late to start, but get on it. All those medals and awards that we earned in the military have great meaning and respect in the military community, but after your career their significance decreases immensely. If 1-2% serve in the armed forces that means that the majority of the civilian world will be clueless as to what you have been doing or what you can bring to the table. They want to know if you are certified, licensed, and /or what your level of education is.
It seems like a very difficult process and it can be a bit overwhelming but remember that no one wants you to fail. Colleges have advisors for every step of the way and Officers have all been through it at least to the bachelors level. RallyPoint is a valuable tool and full of resources as well.

COL Vince Lindenmeyer, Ph.D. (Retired) -- Sir, your words are inspiring and I appreciate the positive energy coming through my screen as I read your words of encouragement. As for me, when I was getting ready to leave the military, I had tons more questions than answers, and even though I started planning early (at least in my opinion), I still felt rushed and anxious when the time came to sign out for the last time. Personally, I went on to an MBA program and that provided some nice natural structure to carry me from the military uniform to civilian life, and I benefitted from that. Had I gone straight to a civilian job, that would have been a tougher adjustment for me to manage. Education now has provided me with new perspectives and also a bit of breathing room to step back from life (even if for a moment) and evaluate what I hope to accomplish in the next 1, 5, and 10 years...and set goals based on those. In the absence of goals, I think it's easier to underperform in the end and rationalize substandard outcomes. I've not thought much about whether I will pursue a PhD at some point later in life, and I would be curious to read additional materials you may have on that topic.

Sir way to set the bar high and lead by example.

Sir, this is a great question that I wish would have been brought up in better detail 20 years ago. I am about to be a retired Army Soldier after 23 years in service in less than 4 days. Sadly, I did not pursue a higher education until early last year. It's something I regret not doing and taking advantage of tuition assistance. Right now I am working towards my BA in Transportation and Logistics Management through AMU. I hope to eventually attain a Master's in the same as well as getting a BA in History. There are so many degrees worth pursuing that I may not have enough time.

Upon graduation from college and completion of ROTC I commissioned into the National Guard but struggled to find solid employment with my degree or experience. Thankfully the MICCC allowed me to have approximately a third of my master's completed. Between the credits obtained and the tuition assistance I managed to obtain my Master's at low cost to myself.

I am currently scheduled to attend the SCCC to branch transfer and will again have credits applicable towards another Master's degree. I am currently considering pursuing another Master's in a more technical (IT) field to go with many of the certifications I am obtaining, as well as my experience. I wish to one day pursue a PhD, but I am not yet sure in what subject as I hope to teach at a University in my retirement years.

I hope everyone enjoys a great holiday season with Thanksgiving and the Winter holiday coming up. What are your goals for JAN 2015? What can you do to set the conditions for self-development and education for 2015? You are in a different place now in your career, you are a self-starter, more confident and capable of teaching yourself through lifelong learning skills gained through your military occupation. You can do it. Have a great holiday but think of the next step!

Sir, I am on track to complete my Bachelor's Degree in September 2015. I am in the middle of a class now and then I will have four more to complete to attain this goal. This has been something that I have been working on for a very long time. I took my first college class from UMUC in 1992 in Hohenfels, GE. It has been a long ride with a lot of lack of motivation on my part, training distractors, deployments, conflicting requirements, etc. I am glad that I have stuck with it and knocked out classes where I could. It will be definitely me nice to have this goal achieved.

Getting it done Sir seemingly gets harder as life progresses. I knocked out a M.S. after I completed the SCCC. Once the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill came into effect, I immediately started a Ph.D through Capella. Needless to say it's taken some time. I began in 2009 and have stopped and started several times. No excuse, but a second marriage, 5 kids and work seemingly getting harder has slowed my progress.

I attended UMUC which I promote as a great experience. The SCCC at one point did a half classroom enviroment at Ft. Gordon that worked great. Capella's program is great, but like the advice I received once, stopping often times happens forever. I would recommend the slow and steady approach to education. I should have taken one class at a time continuously.