Re: Going to School while in Air Force


"Curt" <curtknow@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:GRAeg.30839$Ce1.23024@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Above is a link to the site. My question is, how is it possible to go
to college while being in the Air Force full time Active Duty? I'm
thinking Online colleges like University of Phoenix and local Community
Colleges nearby the Air Force Base if one wants to show up to classes
in the flesh. It's upsetting though that the textbooks aren't payed
for. That's usually one of the largest expenses.

Is it possible to take courses through University of Pheonix while
stationed overseas if someone has a job fixing electronic components
Deployed?


East-

A lot of colleges conduct night, and some day, classes at AF bases,
including overseas. Embry Riddle is very flexible adjusting for TDY and
work schedules. University of Illinois is also popular. Each class
usually meets one night a week. There are also weekend courses. Each
base is slightly different. The permanent overseas bases all have
education offices, and I believe many of the semi-permanent deployment
bases do as well.
Online courses are also gaining popularity. I was pretty lukewarm about
the few I took, but as long as you can access the internet, you can get it
done. With the connectivity available to you now, you should be able to
take classes just about anywhere the AF deploys. In fact, no matter how
busy you are, there are hours of boredom on most deployments.

Are you really "upset" about the textbooks? They are paying full tuition
plus room-and-board, and you are getting a paycheck. Trust me, once
deployed you'll find lots more to be upset about. It's not that hard to
find used textbooks, especially online, for a fraction of the original
price.

Curt


I got my Bachelors while I was on Active Duty (although I didn't go TDY
a lot). One thing to add to Curts posting is that given your income, you'll
most likely qualify for a Pell Grant fairly easily. That can also be used
towards books (unless the rules changed). I know my university gave me a
voucher that I took to the bookstore and charged my books against it. The
voucher then went back to the financial office. I usually had cash left
over (between Tuition Assistance -- 75% at the time -- and the Pell Grant).

Because of my PSC moves, I ended up attending 6 different
colleges/universities (not including the Community College of the AF) by the
time I got my degree (BS Comp Science/Software Engineering). If you're
looking at trying to stay with one institution, then you should look at
something like Univ of Phoenix that is at almost every base.

Mike

USAF Ret


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Continuing Education Credits
    ... It took just a few paragraphs in a budget bill for Congress to open a new frontier in education: Colleges will no longer be required to deliver at least half their courses on a campus instead of online to qualify for federal student aid. ... Although both for-profit colleges and traditional ones have expanded their Internet and online offerings in recent years, only a few dozen universities are fully Internet-based, and most of them are for-profit ones. ...
    (comp.dsp)
  • Re: Going to School while in Air Force
    ... thinking Online colleges like University of Phoenix and local Community ... Colleges nearby the Air Force Base if one wants to show up to classes ... and I believe many of the semi-permanent deployment bases do as well. ... Online courses are also gaining popularity. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)