Degree Program Links Marine Corps with Schools
A growing number of miliFor many, military service represents a financial pathway to achieving a college education. The Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges program for the Marine Corps is helping Marines and their dependents achieve that goal.
By Telka Monteleon
There are many reasons why someone decides to join the military services: the opportunity to serve one’s country, seek adventure, or learn new skills, to name a few. For many, the services represent a financial pathway to achieving a college education. If earning a college degree was one of the factors in your decision to join the Marine Corps, the SOCMAR Degree Network System of colleges and universities can help you achieve that goal.
SOCMAR is Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) degree program for the U.S. Marine Corps. It consists of colleges offering associate and bachelor’s degree programs at or near Marine Corps installations worldwide. These colleges form a network of institutions across which earned course credit can be transferred. This guarantees Marine Corps students and their adult family members can work toward completion of their degrees despite a change or even multiple changes in duty station. There are 59 distinct colleges and universities that participate in the SOCMAR-2 (associate degree) and SOCMAR-4 (bachelor’s degree) Degree Network System.
There are many schools that claim to be military-friendly so why should you attend a SOCMAR member institution?
The Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges is a consortium of 1,700 colleges and universities that have pledged to be military-friendly, to limit the amount of residency required to graduate and to be reasonable in the acceptance of nontraditional and transfer credits. The schools in the SOCMAR Degree System Network have taken that pledge several steps further to assist servicemembers and their adult family members in earning their college degrees. SOCMAR member schools will allow you to complete your degree at your home college, even if you or your adult family members are reassigned several times while you are still in school. In other words, you don’t have to worry about losing credits or starting over every time you move.
SOCMAR institutions offer a wide variety of degrees at both the associate and bachelor’s levels. A few examples of degrees you can earn at the associate level are hospitality management and services, aviation studies, criminal justice and general studies. At the bachelor’s level, some of the options include business administration, accounting and information systems management. For a complete list of participating SOCMAR member colleges and degree programs, go to http://www.soc.aascu.org and click on the SOCMAR icon.
SOCMAR offers course options in a traditional classroom setting or via distance learning, which can be online, by correspondence or in some other type of distance learning format. Some students take courses both ways, enabling them to complete their degree in a more timely fashion. SOCMAR member schools recognize and award credit applicable to the degree area of your service schools and military experiences [MOS] based upon American Council of Education [ACE] Guide Credit Recommendations. Marines wanting to pursue degrees related to their occupational specialty should consider the Marine Corps Career Colleges Program [MCCCP]. The U.S. Marine Corps Training and Education Command [TECOM] has created “roadmaps” for occupational specialties that are compatible with college degrees at both the associate and bachelor’s levels. For example, someone with the occupational specialty MOS 58, military police and corrections, can use their experience and service school credits towards an associate or bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. To learn more about the MOS Roadmaps, please visit: http://tecom.usmc.mil/g3/roadmap.htm.
What steps should a Marine Corps servicemember take to enroll in the SOCMAR program?
The first step in the SOCMAR educational journey is to visit your installation’s lifelong learning education center and talk to the education services officer or education specialist. They can provide you with the information needed to decide on degree type and school or college where you will ultimately earn your degree.
After completing six credits (two courses) with your home college, it is requested you secure a SOCMAR student agreement. This will serve as the map to obtaining your degree. The SOCMAR student agreement is an official evaluation of appropriate credit for any previous college courses and nontraditional learning you have finished, including Marine Corps MOS, service schools and national examination results that apply to the degree you have chosen. Credit for nontraditional learning is based on the recommendations of the American Council on Education. You will need to submit the SMART [Sailor Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript] and any transcripts of prior college course work. The goal here is to put as much credit towards your degree as is applicable for prior learning experiences. Adult family members of active-duty Marines are eligible for student agreements as well. It is your responsibility to make sure that the schools you attend forward your transcripts to your home college. Also, be sure to routinely check your SMART for additional military training or MOS credit that you might not have had when you originally applied to your home college. It could apply toward your degree requirements, thus reducing the remaining credit requirements for graduation. When all your degree requirements have been fulfilled, you apply to your home college to graduate!
Employing both the Marine Corps Voluntary Education Program and SOCMAR Degree Network System colleges and universities, Marines and their dependent family members have a solid support system committed to helping them reach their goal of a attaining a college degree.
For more information about SOCMAR contact Telka Monteleon, Project Director at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . ♦