Military Evaluations can help your Degree Completion Goals

The partnership between the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Department of Defense (DoD) was forged more than seventy years ago and continues to provide a vital resource helping military members and veterans, like you, gain access to higher education.

How Military Evaluations Works

ACE reviews military training (courses) and occupations with the goal of awarding equivalent college credits for those experiences. And more recently, DANTES, ACE, and the Army collaborated to develop a pilot program that incorporated "classified course reviews," enabling Service members to receive potential college credit for classified training that they received, which may reduce the amount of time and money needed to complete college degree requirements. Through an additional collaborative effort, an official credit recommendation of the military training and courses completed by Service members is automatically reflected in their military transcript, also known as the JST or Joint Services Transcript. For more information, go to http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Military-Guide-Online.aspx.

Military Transcripts

The Joint Services Transcript (JST) is available to members who have served in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Air Force members can get their service transcripts through Air University at www.airuniversity.af.mil. However, some AF members may also find the JST beneficial. Service members and veterans can request a JST by visiting https://jst.doded.mil or contacting jst@doded.mil for assistance.

ACE Recommendations

During Fiscal Year 2016, more than 4000 “ACE recommended” college credits were generated from evaluating military training and occupations. The JST program reports more than 1,738,700 military members viewed their military transcript and nearly 508,000 transcript requests were fulfilled. Because of ACE’s Military Evaluations program, Service members can report/provide an academically-accepted document to colleges and universities, which validates their military occupational experience and training along with the corresponding ACE college credit recommendations. For more information, go to http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/Military-Guide-Frequently-Asked-Questions.aspx

College and University Credit Acceptance Policies

It’s important to remember that each academic institution has its own credit acceptance policies. Each institution will determine, at their discretion, whether or not to grant credit for your military training and education. If approved, ACE credit recommendations may be used for any of the following:

• to replace a required course
• as an optional course within the major
• as a general elective
• to meet basic degree requirements
• to waive a prerequisite

The learning of some service members may exceed the skills, competencies, and knowledge evaluated for a specific course or occupation. In these cases, academic institutions may conduct further assessment and award additional credit.

DoD Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Fortunately, academic institutions who partner with DoD through the Voluntary Education (VolEd) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agree to receive college credit for military training and experience. For details, visit our DoD MOU page.

Learn more about the American Council on Education (ACE) Military Evaluation program, as well as the ACE Military Guide at www.acenet.edu.