[Old Rusty Pipe]

Just my two cents here...

Maximizing your college credit for military training is dependent upon a couple of factors. The big one being, how relevant is your training to the major you want to pursue? For example, military police would probably have more college credit applied to a Criminal Justice degree than say a History degree.

If it isn't being applied directly to your major, military credit is usually dumped into the Applied Professional credit. This is usually used as free electives. Each one of the big three will handle these differently, again dependent on what kind of degree you have in mind.

1) Excelsior College: The B.S. in Liberal Arts is one of the most flexible degree programs imaginable. Up to 60 credits can be applied professional credit. 9 of these credits must be upper level. In my experience, the majority of military credit tends to be lower level. Worst case scenario, you have a max of 51 credits that you can net for your military training.

2) Thomas Edison: Thomas Edison is where you really want to be majoring in something related to your military credit. Otherwise, their B.A. in Liberal Arts has the most potential for credit. 27 free electives are allowed for that particular degree. That is where your military credit will likely count towards.

3) Charter Oak: The B.S. in General Studies w/concentration. Charter Oak can work out better or worse than Excelsior all depending upon how you look at it. The B.S. allows a maximum of 60 credits of non-liberal arts credits. Some of the concentrations will count towards this 60 credits of non-liberal arts. Military training will also fall into the non-liberal arts category.

All 3 colleges have similar advantages:

1) All 3 have a military enrollment option. Take 12 credits with them, and recieve discounted fees. This shifts the majority of the burden of cost to the military tuition assitance.

2) No residency requirements.

3) No limit on CLEP, DSST, and Excelsior exams. All of which are free for military personnel.

There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when making your decision. Depending upon what exactly you want a degree (or concentration) in will be the big factor. Excelsior and Charter Oak will probably give you the largest amount of credits to apply towards a degree. Which one exactly, depends a lot on what you had in mind.

For example if you were interested in a Business Administration degree, Charter Oak would probably be the best way to go. At Excelsior a Business Admin degree only allows for around 15 free electives. That is how much your military trainng would apply. At Charter Oak, you are still looking at a 60 credit cap on non-liberal arts credit. Some of the business admin concentration will also count as non-liberal arts (but some of it is liberal arts). You're more likely to get more credit with Charter Oak.

Another issue to consider is using FEMA courses for extra credit. Credit earned through FEMA will usually be applied in the same manner as miltiary credit. If you are already getting 60 credits with Excelsior for applied professional credits, FEMA courses aren't going to help you out. But they can be used to shore up the difference.

Excelsior requires the FEMA credit to be issued through Fredericks Community College for $60 a credit hour. Thomas Edison will transcript them for free if you are enrolled there, but they will compete with military credits for space. The last time I checked, Charter Oak WILL accept FEMA credits that have been credit-banked at Thomas Edison. The only stipulation is that they will NOT count credit that Fredericks Community College would also not give credit for. But for $250 for active duty to credit bank at Thomas Edison, this is something to consider. Obviously you should consult with an advisor from each of the schools concerning the use fo FEMA credits before making any decisions.

GRE Subject Exams: You can use these at both Excelsior and Charter Oak. Excelsior will award from 3-30 credits depending on your score. To earn the full 30 credits you must score an 80% or higher on the exam. Charter Oak has the easier requirement: a score of 40%. Charter Oak will reward 18 credits for the Literature and Psychology exams. 24 credits for the others. Even if there isn't a GRE that would apply directly to your major or concentration, GRE Subject Exams can be a great way to fill up those college credit requirments.

Lastly there is the issue of TECEP exams. As an enrolled student at Thomas Edison you pay 1/2 the cost that non-students pay in order to take one. $75 a credit versus $150 a credit. All three schools will accept TECEP for credit though. Not free like CLEP, DSST, and Excelsior exams; but there are a few subjects covered by TECEP that aren't by the rest. Something to keep in mind.

There are a lot of things that will play into how much credit you will recieve for military training.

Did you have a specific degree in mind?