Military EducationMilitary Spouses Can Obtain A College Degree
As military spouse you may feel that a college degree is not obtainable because of constant relocation. Well, I'm here to tell you that a college education is within your reach at your local base education center. The education centers are not limited to just service members, they are also a resource for the military family. The majority of schools who are offering courses on your military installation will have an office with a counselor available for spouses to sit down and discuss enrolling in college. These counselors can address the education issues that arise from constant relocation. The problems relocation can cause for a student are numerous. For example, a spouse maybe in the middle of a program and discover that a move will be taking place in the next few months. The spouse soon discovers that their program is not available in the area they are relocating to. So they are now looking at transferring to a new school and starting a new program with new requirements. Then the spouse discovers that the new institution is not going to honor all the credits from their current college. The spouse sees that time and money has been lost and may decide to drop out of college. The dream of a college education has been crushed and the spouse soon gives up on earning their degree. There is a solution to this barrier between the spouse and earning their diploma. The obstacle of constantly moving has been over come by a program called SOC (Servicemembers Opportunity College). (www.soc.aascu.org) SOC was established in 1972 to provide educational opportunities to service members and also family members in overcoming the obstacle of constant relocation. The program is a consortium of over 1500 colleges and universities across the U.S. The member colleges agree to accept each other's credits in transfer. This agreement overcomes the problems of having to repeat courses at another institution, loosing credits or changing your major because it is not offered at your new institution. SOC coordinates programs for the associate's and bachelor's degrees in a variety of areas. You'll need to contact your Education Center to see which programs and degrees are offered at your location. Then make the contact with the school of your choice and complete your student agreement form and you're on your way. When your spouse comes home and tells you it's time to relocate don't panic about school. Just get on the SOC website and click on the list of member institutions for the state you are moving to and you'll be able to continue you education without a missed step. So does this program work? Let me share the story of, Terri Jackson, a Navy spouse who walked into my admissions office at Penn Valley Community College last year. She appeared upset and I asked her if there was anything that I could do to assist her. She began to explain that she was having problems finishing her degree and had to change her major because of constant relocations. I soon discovered that she was a military spouse. She proceeded to explain that she had attended 3 other schools, had moved 3 times during the past 4 years of her college career and lost many of her college credits at one school she transferred to. I asked her is she had ever heard of the SOC program. She stated she hadn't and so I explained the program and let her know that our institution was part of SOC and we could help her finish her degree. Since that meeting last year Terri is now graduating with her associate's degree and plans on continuing on to her bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary social science with Kansas State University, a SOC school. So as you explore starting or finishing your college education take a look at the SOC website www.soc.aascu.org for the institution of your choice and make sure they're on the membership list and finish your college dream. Terri is a contributing writer for 4MilitaryFamilies.com. | 
