Other than promotion points, do correspondence courses matter?

2015-08-27T16:03:29-04:00

what are some other benefits to correspondence courses, other then the obvious E5/E6 promotion points? Personally, I feel that if you put the hours of actually learning the material, it could be very useful. I have been taking some of the 1 hour courses in business, just to help prepare for my degree courses. Has anybody heard of course hours helping on an E7 boards, or putting the courses on a resume when you are out? I'd like to be able to say they are worth more than just promotion points.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 27 at 2015 4:24 PM

2015-08-27T16:24:05-04:00

Your Joint Services Transcript (JST) and the possibility of College Credits towards a degree?

The USMC MCI course have LOTS of College Credits associated with them. There's

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Aug 27 at 2015 4:30 PM

2015-08-27T16:30:13-04:00

Make sure you focus on those that are ACE accredited..

Response by SGT Jerrold Pesz made Aug 27 at 2015 7:29 PM

2015-08-27T19:29:25-04:00

I have used some of those courses on my resume in the past when they pertained to the job that I was seeking but that was a long time ago. The main benefit that I get from them is personal satisfaction. I have always just liked going to school and taking classes. I started taking correspondence courses in the sixties, later changed to online courses and have never stopped. I love them. For those interested in a career in law enforcement and/or contract security there are a ton on online coursed available for free. Some will verify your employment but most don't. I have taken courses from FEMA, the National FIre Academy, The Dept. of Justice and the Dept. of Homeland Security which at the time did pertain to my job and were mostly free. Currently I am taking courses from Hillsdale College in history, government and economics. All free. You can never gain too much knowledge and whatever you are interested in you can find an online course.

Response by SFC Everett Oliver made Aug 27 at 2015 8:19 PM

2015-08-27T20:19:04-04:00

I took a ton of correspondence courses when i was on active Duty. In fact I was one of the last to do ANCOC as correspondence, and I believe I could have had several college credits transferred from that had I enrolled anywhere. Many of the correspondence courses were accredited back then....

Response by SSG Toryn Green made Aug 27 at 2015 9:12 PM

2015-08-27T21:12:44-04:00

The promotion points are the biggest kicker, but I would say, yes...they absolutely do matter. Obviously some are going to mean more than others, but I have taken more than I need to max out my points. When my leadership see's the certificates, they know that I'm putting as much effort into learning and bettering myself as a person and as a Soldier as I possibly can. It shows that a Soldier is highly motivated and has a thirst to learn more. When it comes down to getting school slots that you really want, they generally remember the soldiers who consistently went above and beyond. They get first dibs on those slots.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 27 at 2015 9:14 PM

2015-08-27T21:14:37-04:00

Simply put, if you're IT, you should be learning stuff in Skillport/Skillsoft.

Btw, Lean Six Sigma is up there too, Logisticians.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 10 at 2017 1:03 PM

2017-01-10T13:03:57-05:00

They used to, for retirement points. Not anymore.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Aug 27 at 2018 1:27 PM

2018-08-27T13:27:38-04:00

1, As an E5 I took all the courses for 11B as far as I could, and for my secondary 76Y ( I had been a unit armorer. I still went to the PNCOC, BNCOC resident courses, as well as the Battle Staff Senior Course and above. They helped me greatly on getting the lessons/procedures down before the resident course.