Education?

Question

Hello, I am asking about doing online school while in the Navy. Is it possible to spend 15 hours a week toward online schooling? Is there internet access? Is it hard to do this in the Navy? Will the Navy Help pay for it? Can I attend the classes aboard the ship at the same time? If online schooling is paid for why not? I heard that online is crap but it is education none the less.

Answer 1

I think I already answered this question... But in order....
1. What do you mean by 15 hours a week? Actual hours or credit hours? Credit hours, no. Real hours, sure.
2. There is Internet access. On shore very reliable. Out to sea... wouldn't suggest it.
3. Not really. The Navy strongly encourages higher education. They usually work with you.
4. The Navy has 100% Tuition Assistance. The classes you take must be relative to your degree. There is a limit to the amount of credit hours you can take in a year, but that is waiver-able. You will be responsible for buying your books. If you need to pay to take a certification test, they help pay for that. I would also suggest CLEPS, they are free.
5. You can take PACE courses on the ship. I would strongly suggest that. College professors go on cruise and instruct courses. It is literally going to college on the boat.
6. Why not, I did it, many people do it.
7. Online educations are fine. University of Phoenix, however, is questionable to say the least.

Answer 2

A lot depends on where you are with you divisional and shipboard qualifications. If you have just joined you probably will not have the time or the approval of you chain of command for college. Your job is to get qualified so you can be useful first.

If you are senior enough to have the time to devote, and lucky enough to be on a command that can afford you the time, and there is enough interest from enough of your shipmates to meet the minimum student requirements in the course that you want to take, a PACE course may or may not be scheduled depending on the operational plans of your command.

They Navy will pay for some on-line education programs. There are many colleges and Universities that offer some degree of on-line educational opportunities.

If you are thinking about going into the Navy, education should not be your primary reason. In War time as a newbie you will have little time for anything but work. After a few years, that slacks off a bit as you finish you senior qualifications. Even then, when the ship has a schedule, your distance learning is rather low on the priority list.

Even after separation studies have shown that less than 60% of the serviceman that paid in their $1200 in the first year get that money back. There is no adjustment for rising tuition rates either, so when you are discharged, you education fund may well be worth less than when the recruiter sold you on it.

And this $1200 has to be paid while you are making the lowest pay you will hopefully ever receive.

If you are interested in continuing your education past High School, I would recommend visiting a local technical or community college. High school guidance counselors usually have too many students, so very few of those students get even adequate information to base a decision on.

They will have all of the financial aid answers for you. They will also likely be the least expensive way to obtain your two year degree.

In addition they usually have much lower admission standards than the big name school. This includes SAT scores. Some have not SAT score requirements at all but instead have prospective students take Math and English placement exams.

Once you knock out your Associates Degree for cheap you can take that degree to almost any 4-Year college or University and apply as a transfer student.

That will allow you to meet the much less stringent transfer admission guidelines and now you only have to finance 2 years of the large tuition instead if 4. Plus with an Associates Degree, you should be able to up your job and wages a bit to help with the costs.

You could, if you lived at home, still work and make enough to cover tuition and some other costs with out going into debt or taking any student loans.

Good luck in your education. It should be your first priority. After you get your bachelors degree, the military will still be there happy to take your application. But they will pay you much better if you enter as an officer with a degree, than they will as an Non-designated E-1.


A peace time Navy was pretty good for continuing education, a war time service has other priorities that must take precedence.

Answer 3

Online isnt necessarily crap, but its a degree either way. The Navy will help you w/ basically whatever you want to do.

Answer 4

why bother? just be like rumsfeld and pocket 2 trillion dollars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU4GdHLUHwU