ASU is not too SMART
For those of you who don’t know, I am currently a student at Arizona State University. Yesterday, I picked up a copy of the State Press, ASU’s student newspaper, on my way to my history class. I usually read the State Press for entertainment purposes, since most of the articles are written by self-righteous 20 year-olds who think they are superior to the rest of the world since they have spent two years at ASU. In Tuesday’s issue however, there was a well-written and well-researched article about how ASU’s does not accept SMART transcripts from the military. The article and a follow-up editoral also mention how the veterans service office hasn’t been giving out accurate information on receiving credit for military experience. This is despite the fact that ASU is recognized as “among the most military-friendly schools in the country” by GI Jobs magazine and is a member of Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (neither of which I had heard of until I read the article) according to the article.
For those of you who don’t know what a SMART transcript is, it is a document that you can get from the military that lists all your military training and what type of college credit can apply to that training. For example, lets say you completed an electronics course in the military and obtained an MOS in that field. Your SMART transcript would list this training along with an equivalent similar college course and credit hours. Completing a correspondence course in basic grammar or math (like the ones offered through the Marine Corps Institute) along with leadership schools like Squad Leaders Course and Ranger School are also listed on your SMART transcript. I have never heard of any school granting credit for every course listed on a SMART transcript (and I would not expect them to either), however most at least give a few elective credit hours to veteran students. It makes perfect sense to me to give credit for military experience. Why not give a soldier or Marine who has done a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan credit for a cultural awareness course? Why not give a Navy electronics specialist credit for basic electronics class? The answer might be obvious for some: money. The longer a veteran is using either the post-9/11 GI Bill or another educational benefit, the more money ASU gets.
ASU is now the largest university in the country, with over 50,000 students on four campuses around the Phoenix area. Thousands of veterans are using the new GI Bill in Arizona and if they find that is easier to graduate from another one of Arizona’s universities (U of A or NAU) or community college they will go there over ASU. This would be ASU’s loss, not ours.
I’m not at ASU for the “college experience”. I’m there to get a piece of paper that will validate my existence as a worthy human being and move on with my life. The less time I have to spend there, the better and I think most of the other vets in my classes feel the same way.
Category: Politics
SUNY Oswego wouldn’t accept a lot of my military experience at first. Until I told them that I had to change my major and skip plans for a master’s degree because of their baseless decision. Within minutes they found thirty more credits.
I know that won’t help you, OD, but maybe it’ll help someone else. Unfortunately, colleges today make decisions based on generating cash instead of generating educated alumni.
As an ASU grad and former USAF (ASU ROTC) I found this interesting. That was many years ago but we also had the “I’m superiour than you” crowd then too. I suspect some of them are in DC spending my money.
Dan, I sincerely hope you can navigate thru the maze and gain a whole slew of credits for your service. Having said that, it’s one more example of conservative free-market fundamentalism – you’re only as valuable as the amount of dollars in your pocket. Thanks for your service, now open your wallet. My sister in Phoenix used to work for a guy who was a highly paid consultant for ASU (I think – might have been U of A) who promoted the idea that the number of square feet of space a university department was entitled to was directly proportional to the amount of dollars that department brought in. Underwater basket weaving is hot this year and and chemistry enrollment is down? Commandeer some of chem’s floor space and hand it over to underwater basket weaving. Departments live or die depending by their bottom line, with no regard to the socially redeeming value of their subject matter. In this same context, the middle class has been treated as a resource to be exploited rather than a asset to be protected and nurtured. Now I guess military and ex-military men and women are just one more profit center, one more resource to be exploited. Welcome to the club….
Not too surprising from Arizona – a state that continues to tax its servicemembers as if they are residents when they haven’t set foot in the state for years, are not registered to vote, and own no property. In my case, I was overseas and had no expense impact at all on the state, but I was guilty of enlisting there. That’s gratitude for you.