After taking a pledge to serve their country on the often-dangerous front line, colleges and universities—both private and public—have been actively working to provide incentives to active-duty military and veterans to enroll at their institutions.
The initiatives vary. They include providing a variety of academic and support services that focus exclusively on this demographic, such as daycare and child services, student programming and online courses.
But enrolling these students has not always been easy. In recent years, a growing number of colleges and universities have reported a sharp decline in the number of military-affiliated students on their campuses.
To address this growing concern, Georgia Southern University has made it easier for active-duty military or veterans to find out what courses they can receive credit for based on previous military experience.
Earlier this year, the university introduced a new widget that encourages active-duty military and veterans to share information about their branch of military service, rank and job title so that the university can identify courses to match their service experience.
The tool is available to prospective and current students and it provides an immediate resource of the list of courses for which an applicant may receive credit.
“The biggest benefit is that it doesn’t require them to take classes in things that they’re already experienced in,” says Sgt. Maj. Bill Gammon, who serves as coordinator of Military Education and Outreach at the public institution located south of Atlanta. “It helps them expedite their way through their college experience here to their final goal.”
