Where do you go for information about education opportunities, both undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs?

SrA Andrew McCarty — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:13:35 -0500

I work for Northeastern University. We participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program and offer 252 spots to eligible veterans. We'll contribute up to $25,000 per academic year for undergrads; up to $20,000 for grads; and up to $10,000 for law school students. The VA then matches our contribution in addition to the $19,198 that students receive in GI Bill funding. With such a generous benefit, I want to help my fellow veterans make use of this program. I'm wondering how people are choosing their colleges/universities. Are there websites, publications, etc. that you, your friends, your colleagues are using to search for educational opportunities? Has RallyPoint been helpful in this search?

Response by SGT Thomas Sullivan made Jan 31 at 2014 1:13 PM

SGT Thomas Sullivan — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:13:22 -0500

Not enough top notch 4 year universities offer online bachelor's degrees of worth. Many SM's get out looking to go to school for engineering and sciences, and currently the choices in online eduction is limited in these fields.

Arizona State University stepped it up a notch by offering the first ABET accredited Electrical Engineering degree program available 100% online, including labs which have been virtualized.

I would like to see more headway in this regard

Response by SPC Fernando Braga made Feb 2 at 2014 10:15 AM

SPC Fernando Braga — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 10:15:58 -0500

I am one of the first Veteran Posse Scholars at Vassar College. Veterans Posse is the most well funded vets education program out there that places vets in colleges that the GI Bill does not cover in groups of ten or more. It's not a solution for everyone as in the program only takes 20 vets a year. However the program provides a high degree of academic and career support. I've had opportunities to interact with and receive mentorship from senior professionals in the field of international relations that I could not have dreamed of having as a Hunter college student.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 2 at 2014 12:22 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 12:22:19 -0500

SrA McCarty,

I'm an electrical engineering major, so I prefer a school that offers online courses for the majority of my credits and a brick-and-mortar classroom for some of my higher level requirements.

I used the "Search Schools" option on GoArmyEd.com to find a school in my area that has a SOCAD agreement. Of the six schools in my area where I could use tuition assistance, only one had a SOCAD agreement, so my choice was easy.

I'm about to relocate to Korea and will temporarily switch to online courses, so I went back to GoArmyEd.com and used the "Search Degrees" option and did a search for schools that offer my major. I then eliminated schools that are online-only (e.g. Phoenix, etc.) because they don't have a great reputation, and chose a school that has a SOCAD agreement with tuition that doesn't exceed $250/credit and offers online courses.

When I get back to the U.S., I'll use GoArmyEd's "Search Schools" to find another brick-and-mortar SOCAD school.

Response by SGT Nathan Huff made Feb 7 at 2014 8:49 PM

SGT Nathan Huff — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 20:49:47 -0500

Not all yellow ribbon schools (Private Schools) are the right choice. I will be going to a Public school that costs 1/3 that of a Private yellow ribbon school.

Key thing is you must research the schools, find one that has the degree program that fits you and go for it.

Response by Sgt Randy Hill made Jul 3 at 2014 2:28 PM

Sgt Randy Hill — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 14:28:20 -0400

Lately the career recruiting job boards are filled with college level information about what your next degree level should be. If you go on Live Career.com you can hit most any education link while you apply on the job boards. For me the DBA or PHD would be nice if only I had an internship to go with it and some fellowship to boot. Not getting any mileage out of my MS degree which is in human resources.

Response by Maj Stephen Parsons, PhD made Nov 18 at 2014 10:55 AM

Maj Stephen Parsons, PhD — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 10:55:04 -0500

Andrew,

From my experience as an active duty member to a life long learner, many schools have success advertising on base ad education fairs. SNHU has folks traveling around the country base to base to boost their online enrollment. They have a large military support section on ground in Hookset, NH. I would say that lot's of times it is word of mouth and who offers the most flexible schedule. That's how I chose the school I went to for my PhD.
Steve