The Coast Guard Education Services Officer
(ESO) is a key advisor to
potential military students
and their family members who are identifying
their education goals and degree
options. For
many of these students, SOCCOAST
member institutions may best
meet their needs for degrees
that reflect the military-friendly
policies of Degree Network
System colleges — a home college,
Home
College — The
institution from which the student
is seeking a degree.
That college issues the SOCAD,
SOCNAV, SOCMAR, or SOCCOAST Student
Agreement and awards the degree
to the student when degree requirements
are completed. limited academic
residency, Academic
Residency — The
number of credits a student must
complete with the home college
to be eligible for a degree.
SOC Degree Network System member
institutions must limit academic
residency to 25%
or less of the total degree program,
specifically avoiding any "final year" or "final
semester" residency requirement. The only
exception is for institutions
that offer 100% of an
undergraduate degree online;
they may require servicemembers
to take 30% of that degree
program from their institutions.
acceptance of non-traditional
credit, formal Student
AgreementsStudent
Agreement — The
Student Agreement is an official
evaluation of the student’s prior learning,
including courses taken from
other institutions, military
training school courses, military
occupational experience (MOS
or Rating), and nationally-recognized
examination programs. The Student
Agreement serves as a degree
plan so that the student
has a complete assessment of
remaining degree requirements.
All SOC Degree Network System
member institutions must issue
each degree-seeking student who
has chosen them as his or her
home college a SOCAD, SOCNAV,
SOCMAR, or SOCCOAST Student Agreement
early in the student’s
enrollment at the college or
when the student has completed
six semester hours with the home
college. The Student Agreement
form, although standardized cross
the four Services participating
in the SOC Degree Network System
has been tailored to fit individual
Service requirements. Templates
and instructions for completing
Student Agreements are available
in Handbook Chapter 4 on the
SOC Degree Network System
Handbooks CD-ROM
of this Handbooks and on
the SOCAD, SOCNAV, SOCMAR, and
SOCCOAST Web pages. and, for many
degrees, guaranteed transferability
for specific courses in SOC
DNS Course Categories.SOC
DNS Course Category — A categorization
of courses from SOC Degree Network
System Core member institutions
that are applicable toward
a college degree and have comparable
academic content. A SOC DNS Course
Category is established
whenever a group of SOC Degree
Network System Core member institutions
agree to accept each
other’s comparable courses in transfer.
Each institution with a course
in the SOC DNS Course Category
has guaranteed that it will
accept in transfer each of the
courses from other institutions
in the Category in place
of its own listed course(s).
In some cases, multiple courses
from an institution must be
taken to satisfy a Category’s requirements.
Separate Course Categories are
maintained for associate and
bachelor’s
degree programs. SOC DNS Course
Categories are identified by
a six-character Course Category
Code, with associate degree Category
Codes ending with “A” and
bachelor’s degree Category Codes ending
with “B”. Consult the SOC Degree
Network System Transferability
Tables for a complete list.
The SOC
Degree Network System HandbooksSOC Degree Network System
Handbooks— The
SOC Degree Network System Handbooks serve many purposes.
they are guides to SOC Degree Network
System features, policies, and
membership requirements for colleges.
They also serve as degree-planning tools for students and academic
counselors, listing colleges,
degrees, courses in SOC DNS Course
Category Codes with guaranteed
two-way transfer, and location
offerings for associate and
Bachelor’s degree programs offered
to servicemembers worldwide.
Chapter 1 gives an overview of the SOC Degree Network System and related
concepts. Chapter 2 focuses on college requirements, while Chapter 3
is a guide for students. Chapter 4 highlights Student Agreement procedures
and polices.
Chapter 5 lists college information such as academic policies and points-of-contact,
as well as degree programs and their associated delivery methods and
networks. Chapter 6 lists program offerings at Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
and Coast Guard
locations, including degrees offered via distance learning and learning
assessment. Chapter 7 lists service-specific initiatives and specialized
programs. Chapter 8 lists courses assigned to SOC DNS Course Category
Codes in the Transferability
Tables, organized by college and by Category Code. The Appendix includes
acronyms, definitions, and forms. are a resource for the Education
Services Officer in helping the military student or family member
understand the advantages of pursuing an undergraduate degree from a
SOCCOAST institution.
The
Handbooks will help address issues of concern to the military
student:
- Anticipating the mobility required
of military service.
Choosing a SOCCOAST institution
as a home college will
help the military student
or family member earn
a degree with minimal
loss of credit when duty
stations change.
- Making decisions about what college
to choose as a home college.
While talking with college
counselors is
an essential part of
the military student’s decision
process, the SOC Degree Network System
Handbooks are designed
to provide the military
student with information
that can help the student
make informed choices.
Chapter 5 of the Handbooks provides
information about SOC
Degree Network System
colleges, degree programs,
methods of course delivery,
and school policies—as well
as points-of-contact
for college staff who
know and understand SOCCOAST.
Information about
service-specific degree
programs
can also be found
in Chapter 7.
- Receiving a formal evaluation
of prior learning and
remaining degree requirements.
For degrees listed
in the SOC Degree Network System
Handbooks, military students
and family members should
receive a SOCCOAST Student
Agreement from the
home college after completing
no more than two courses
with the college.
Chapter 4 of the Handbooks provides
information about the
policies governing Student
Agreements and directions
for colleges in completing
them.
- Understanding guaranteed transferability
among Core SOC Degree Network System
member institutions. The guaranteed
transferability,Guaranteed
Transferability — The guarantee
by each SOC Degree Network
System Core member institution college
to
accept, in transfer from
other Degree Network System Core
member institutions,
courses in the same SOC
DNS Course Categories as comparable
to its required
courses. for specific
courses offered by Core
member institutionsCore
Member Institutions — One
membership type within the SOC Degree
Network System. Core member institutions
offer at least one degree program
in a Guaranteed-Transfer Network.
They may also offer degree programs
in Auxiliary Networks. is
an important advantage to military
students and family members in making
progress toward degree completion.
SOC DNS Course Category Codes identify
courses with this kind of pre-arranged
transferability. Chapter 8 of the Handbooks includes transferability
policies and an index of categorized
courses by college and SOC DNS Course
Category Code.
- Moving to a new duty station.
Chapter 6 of the Handbooks lists
all SOC Degree Network System colleges
by location and network for the
Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast
Guard. Military students and academic
counselors can cross-reference
the information contained in this
chapter with the Transferability
Tables in Chapter 8 to find courses
at their new location that are
guaranteed to transfer back to
their home college.
- Answering the military student’s questions. Chapter 3 of the SOC Degree Network System Handbooks is the student’s guide to the SOC Degree Network System and includes answers to many frequently asked questions. Service-specific information can also be found in Chapter 7 arranged by Service: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.