Mott Community College (MCC) has received a Military Credit Equivalency grant from the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) to support veterans make the most of their military education as they begin their higher education career.
Mott Community College is one of seven institutions that received over $258,000 in grant funds from the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. The other institutions that were awarded the grant include Davenport University, Ferris State University, Grand Rapids Community College, Kirtland Community College and Saginaw Valley State University, according to Flint Side.
While service members are on active-duty, they receive extensive education and training, which prepares them to specialize in several military occupations. Many active service members and veterans realize during their transition to civilian life and higher education that their military education may be difficult to translate into college credit, according to MCC News.
“The MVAA recognized an opportunity to work collaboratively with post-secondary institutions to create stronger links between learning acquired in the military and academic credit,” said James Robert Redford, MVAA director. “The MCE Grant recipients are paving the way for developing access to high-demand career fields for veterans in Michigan. We are proud to support their efforts in contributing to the academic and professional successes of veterans.”
The one-time competitive grant supports a variation of institutional projects such as creating exact course similarities between military and college courses to establishing bridge programs that apply military training skills to degree programs in fields like criminal justice and health care.
“Providing direct equivalencies for military students shows them that SVSU has taken the time to understand and value the training and education they have received in the military,” said Bethany Alford, director of Military Student Affairs at Saginaw Valley State University. “Military transcripts do not look like a typical transcript, so for me it was about training our faculty and staff in how credit recommendations on military transcripts are made.”
