SOCCOAST Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I get a college education?
What is SOCCOAST?
Where is SOCCOAST available?
Can I get college credit for my experience?
What can I study?
What if I can't attend regular classes?
Can I get financial assistance for my
studies?
What is a SOCCOAST "home college?"
What is the SOCCOAST Student Agreement?
How do I begin as a SOCCOAST student?
What is academic residency?
What happens when the Coast Guard reassigns
me?
What if I leave the Coast Guard before graduating?
Can my family benefit from SOCCOAST?
Can Coast Guard reservists, veterans, and
civil service employees benefit from SOCCOAST?
Why should I get a college
education?
A college education can be a major step on your road to better
pay, promotions, increased responsibility or an interesting
civilian job after your Coast Guard career.
What is SOCCOAST?
SOCCOAST is the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges degree program
for the Coast Guard. SOCCOAST-2 consists of accredited colleges
that offer associate degree programs on or accessible to Coast
Guard units worldwide. The bachelor's degree equivalent is SOCCOAST-4.
These civilian colleges have joined together to form networks
in which each college accepts credits from all the others. This
guarantees that you can continue toward your degree even though
the Coast Guard may transfer you several times. The SOCCOAST
system solves the problem of starting your studies at one place
and finishing at another.
Where is SOCCOAST available?
SOCCOAST programs with traditional classroom study can be taken
initially at or near Alameda, CA; Tidewater, VA, and Miami, FL
with future expansion planned. Using SOCCOAST's distance learning
and learning assessment options, you can study anywhere.
Can I get college
credit for my experience?
SOCCOAST was designed to build on your Coast Guard training and
experience. It was developed specifically for enlisted personnel
whose Coast Guard rate, rating, and schools may already have
earned them college credits. These college credits are listed
in the ACE Guide,
or via the Coast Guard Institute.
What can I study?
Initially, degree networks at the associate and baccalaureate
level will focus on aviation maintenance technology, aviation
flight technology, business administration, computer science,
criminal justice, electronics technology, environmental science,
food service management, human resources management, individualized
studies, and nursing/health studies. Of course, liberal arts
and liberal studies are available to those desiring a more general
degree.
What if I can't attend
regular classes?
Through the Distance Learning and Learning Assessment methods
described on the opposite page, you can achieve college credit
and a degree with a combination of correspondence type courses,
CLEP and DANTES testing, and ACE Guide credit for your military
experience.
Can I get financial
assistance for my studies?
If you were attracted to the Coast Guard by the GI Bill, tuition
assistance, or other educational funding opportunities, don't
delay! Begin your college studies now. The Coast Guard will pay
a substantial part of tuition costs for courses taken while you're
on active duty. For details, ask your Coast Guard Education Services
Officer or see the Institute home page for funding information.
What is a SOCCOAST
"home college?"
A home college is the SOCCOAST college where you begin your studies
and complete the minimum academic residency; you do not have
to take more than 25 percent of the program with your home college,
and these courses can be taken with the college at any time and
anywhere even at sea. (Learning assessment colleges do
not have residency requirements.) The home college evaluates
your Coast Guard rate and rating and other learning experiences,
combining them all into a SOCCOAST Student Agreement that serves
as your contract-for-degree. When you have completed your study
plan, the home college awards your degree.
What is the SOCCOAST
Student Agreement?
A SOCCOAST Student Agreement is the form on which the home college
makes a complete evaluation of the college credit you should
receive on the basis of your Coast Guard rate and rating, testing,
and other courses taken. It also lists courses remaining to be
completed and serves as your checklist for future studies at
SOCCOAST network colleges anywhere else in the world. It is your
contract, your degree plan, and a road map to program completion.
Your home college will give you a copy to take with you; keep
it and have it updated as you continue your studies. You are
not a SOCCOAST student, and you do not have the SOCCOAST transfer
guarantees until you have been given a SOCCOAST Student Agreement
by your home college.
How do I begin as
a SOCCOAST student?
Your first step is to consult with your Coast Guard Education
Services Officer who will help you locate available programs
of study and can give you an estimate of the college credit you
may already have earned from your Coast Guard training and experience,
courses you've already completed, tests you've taken, etc. The
Education Services Officer will advise you whom to contact at
the SOCCOAST college for further counseling, course selection,
and official issuance of the SOCCOAST Student Agreement that
serves as your contract-for-degree. You may contact the Coast
Guard Institute or the SOC office at 1-800-368-5622 or e-mail:
soccoast@aascu.org for help in getting started as a SOCCOAST
student.
What is academic
residency?
Academic residency is the number of credit hours within a degree
program that must be taken with the degree-granting college.
SOCCOAST colleges limit academic residency requirements for active-duty
Coast Guard personnel and adult family members to no more than
25 percent of the undergraduate program.
What happens when
the Coast Guard reassigns me?
Consult with the Coast Guard Education Services Officer before
leaving. Your SOCCOAST Student Agreement will be reviewed to
determine what you have completed and what remains to be done.
You will be advised which colleges participate in your network
at your new duty station. Check in with the new Coast Guard Education
Services Officer; show your SOCCOAST Student Agreement to the
Education Services Officer, and you will be advised which courses
you can take to complete your plan of study. If no participating
SOCCOAST college is available, the Education Services Officer
can help you get formal approval from your home college to take
courses from a college not in a SOCCOAST network.
What if I leave the
Coast Guard before graduating?
If you leave the Coast Guard before you complete your program,
the SOCCOAST Student Agreement guarantees that your college credits
will not be lost and you can finish your studies as a civilian
- assuming you have satisfied the home college's academic residency
requirement and can take the remaining courses with another college.
If the college is not in SOCCOAST, you'll have to get the courses
approved by your home college.
Can my family benefit
from SOCCOAST?
Yes, SOCCOAST colleges will enroll adult family members under
the same terms as servicemembers.
Can Coast Guard reservists,
veterans, and civil service employees benefit from SOCCOAST?
For Coast Guard reservists, U.S. Coast Guard civil service employees,
Coast Guard members returning to civilian life to begin or continue
study, SOCCOAST institutions provide appropriate evaluation of
their training, experience, and prior study and other services
similar to that afforded other servicemembers.
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