Army Navy, Air Force, Marines - there is military support for your education, by all means. And if you're active duty military or a military veteran, the choices of what to study and where to learn from are limitless.
One unique option for military personnel and their families: Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC), a consortium of more than 1,550 colleges and universities that provide educational opportunities designed with the military family in mind.
Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges is co-sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and managed for the DoD by the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES).
Your course work can be done on campus, at military installations and armories, and at a distance by computer or correspondence. Associates, Bachelors, and Graduate degree programs are available. Special curriculum areas include SOCAD (Army), SOCNAV (Navy), SOCMAR (Marines), and SOCGuard (Army National Guard).
In addition, SOC operates ConAP (Concurrent Admissions Program) to increase college enrollment of Army enlistees (Army and Army Reserves). ConAP allows you to enlist in the Army at the same time as you apply for college. DANTES also operates its own Distance Learning Program.
Once you find a program you want to study, the Armed Forces Tuition Assistance (TA) Program will support you by allowing active military to enroll in courses at accredited colleges, universities, junior colleges, high schools, and vocational-technical schools. TA will pay up to 100% of the cost of the course and up to 100% of the cost of obtaining a high school degree, with a limit of $250 per credit hour and an aggregate annual limit of $4,500.
And don't overlook US Service Academies. Each branch of the US military operates its own Service Academy as a four-year institution of higher education. Attending a US Service Academy, you receive a full scholarship with a small monthly stipend. Upon graduation, you're commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps or as an ensign in the Navy or Coast Guard.
