Matthew Oliveira, who has been in the Coast Guard for 12 years and is currently stationed in South Carolina, knew that he wanted to finish his degree because it would make him more “marketable.”
So in the fall of 2016, Oliveira enrolled as a student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in a fully online academic program that caters to adult students called University Without Walls (UWW).
Now, Oliveira is in the process of taking his last class at the university and is set to earn his bachelor’s degree with a concentration in federal law and criminal justice, a major that he developed with the assistance of his faculty adviser.
Drawn to UWW because they were “generous when accepting my credits,” he was able to earn 29 transfer credits from UMass Amherst for his military training and an additional 21 credits for writing and submitting a prior-learning portfolio.
Additionally, he says that the program was an “affordable” option.
“In life today, when you go to apply to places, you need some college education, at least a bachelor’s degree,” says Oliveira. “You can say you have all this experience but sometimes just a minimum requirement is to have a degree.”
While Oliveira has been working toward his degree, he has found that the biggest challenge has been balancing work, family and school.
