Basic Overview of Higher Ed
Basic Overview of Higher Ed
Transcript
Now that you've spent time identifying the personal and career considerations that are important to you, it's time to understand the different types of institutions of higher learning. Is a college the same thing as a university? What does liberal arts mean? Why are some colleges called public and others called private? In this section, you will begin to understand the basics regarding the types of institutions of higher learning.
As you look at the thousands of colleges and universities across the United States and abroad, it can seem daunting to try and compare them all. In this section, you will learn the similarities and differences between public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, two-year and four-year, and liberal arts and research institutions. Take a look at the videos and additional reading and slide presentations that can help you understand the differences.
Accreditation is something you may have heard a lot about recently, as there have been several institutions of higher learning that have lost their accreditation, leaving student veterans with credits that won't transfer to another institution. While we generally wish to avoid being prescriptive, we must be direct here. It is our strongest opinion you should attend only accredited institutions of higher education. There are other options out there, but we cannot in good faith endorse those options.
So, we want to spend a little time talking about accreditation and where you can get the proper information you need to understand whether the institutions of higher learning you're considering are accredited. At a high level, accreditation is simply a process of external review used to rate colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning to guarantee quality, and to ensure the education is valuable and worthwhile.
Accreditation might seem a little tricky, but you need to think of it as a seal of approval on the education you are receiving. You are going to invest your time and money into your higher education. You deserve a quality outcome. Regardless, bottom line, we want you to have your eyes open about the choices you are making. Accreditation is given when an institution is recognized for maintaining standards required for graduates to gain admission to other reputable institutions of higher learning, or, to gain credentials for professional practice.
Why is this important for you? As I've already mentioned, many of you will have transfer credits, either before you start at a four-year institution, or may be considering transferring at a later date. In either case, you will want to make sure the credits you're earning have the ability to transfer to other institutions, and the degree you receive has value. Also, federal student aid through the Department of Education-- which you may need to assist with financing your education, even if you have full GI Bill benefits-- is only available to accredited institutions. That does not mean that specialized or programmatic accreditation won't be the right fit for you. But if the institution isn't also accredited, this method of supplementing the financing of your education won't be an option.
Credits do not easily transfer between institutions, especially those of different accreditation types. If you're looking at community colleges first, it would be worth your time to ask the colleges and universities to which you're considering transferring if they will accept transfer credits from the institution you're currently attending, or plan to attend. Following a path of selecting regionally-accredited institutions will offer you more flexibility to transfer credits if you want to stair-step your way to a more highly selective institution to complete your degree. We are providing you with several websites to help you research and fully understand how the institutions you are considering fit into the accreditation landscape as you strategize your plans for education.
Another thing you need to consider as you're trying to find a right-fit college is to think about your current academic profile, and how that fits into your ultimate goals. Over the years, I've worked with many service members and veterans who came to the application process with very different academic backgrounds. For some, in high school, they simply didn't reach their full academic potential. Their high school record didn't match their intellectual capability. They chose, at that point, to enlist in the military. Others followed a traditional path of going to college right after high school, and found they just weren't ready. Perhaps they weren't mature enough to dedicate themselves to the rigors of an academic environment and dropped out, or were put on academic probation and then left.
And there were even those who did exceptionally well in high school, but felt a personal call to serve their country, and now feel somewhat disconnected between their current situation and their former academic life. Wherever your academic profile might fall in the spectrum, you can achieve your ultimate goal of getting to the college of your choice, but you can't discount your academic record. It may take a little bit more time. If you're unhappy with your academic record, don't worry. There are lots of things you can do to improve it. Don't be discouraged.
Countless service members and veterans I've worked with have chosen the community college path right after active duty, because they wanted to look at a more selective institution, and knew they needed to improve their academic record with a more recent track record. It is certainly an option to take a semester or two, and take some additional general education courses. If you failed courses previously, you can also return to the college you originally attended and retake those courses.
You might think of it this way. Your academic record will stay with you, but it need not stay the same size. Grow your academic record. Demonstrate the new you. Developing an interim strategy to address deficiencies in your preparation, improve grades, or simply display a current level of interest can help set your application apart from others. You are already on a non-traditional route to higher education. Embrace it. If you think you can improve in a meaningful way, adjust your path accordingly. Sure, it will take a little more planning and patience, but the payoffs will be more than worth the effort, even if it is just resetting your own self perception academically.
Just like there is no single best college for every student, there is no single solution to improving your academic record. If you feel like you can, or should, correct portions of your record, sit down and review your options with an academic advisor or admissions officer. You might consider focusing your effort on general education courses. Think English composition or college-level math. That will transfer easily to a wide variety of colleges. Whatever path you choose, seek guidance from an education counselor whenever you can. Be candid about your weaknesses, and seek ways to improve. Both you and your applications will be better for the effort.
I recall one veteran who had his sights set on achieving a degree from a highly-selective institution, but simply could not accept the fact that it would never happen without making corrections to his past academic record. He considered any intermediary steps to be a distraction and a detour to achieving his aims. He ended up giving up on higher education as a path for him altogether, when he had potential. We want to impress upon you, when you look at your academic record objectively, such efforts are anything but a distraction. They are part of the journey.
We are fortunate to have veterans who have stories to tell about their path to a right-fit college. Each story is unique, but they all achieved their ultimate goal in finding a right-fit college. So don't just listen to my advice. Listen to what some student veterans have to say.
As you look at the thousands of colleges and universities across the United States and abroad, it can seem daunting to try and compare them all. In this section, you will learn the similarities and differences between public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, two-year and four-year, and liberal arts and research institutions. Take a look at the videos and additional reading and slide presentations that can help you understand the differences.
Accreditation is something you may have heard a lot about recently, as there have been several institutions of higher learning that have lost their accreditation, leaving student veterans with credits that won't transfer to another institution. While we generally wish to avoid being prescriptive, we must be direct here. It is our strongest opinion you should attend only accredited institutions of higher education. There are other options out there, but we cannot in good faith endorse those options.
So, we want to spend a little time talking about accreditation and where you can get the proper information you need to understand whether the institutions of higher learning you're considering are accredited. At a high level, accreditation is simply a process of external review used to rate colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning to guarantee quality, and to ensure the education is valuable and worthwhile.
Accreditation might seem a little tricky, but you need to think of it as a seal of approval on the education you are receiving. You are going to invest your time and money into your higher education. You deserve a quality outcome. Regardless, bottom line, we want you to have your eyes open about the choices you are making. Accreditation is given when an institution is recognized for maintaining standards required for graduates to gain admission to other reputable institutions of higher learning, or, to gain credentials for professional practice.
Why is this important for you? As I've already mentioned, many of you will have transfer credits, either before you start at a four-year institution, or may be considering transferring at a later date. In either case, you will want to make sure the credits you're earning have the ability to transfer to other institutions, and the degree you receive has value. Also, federal student aid through the Department of Education-- which you may need to assist with financing your education, even if you have full GI Bill benefits-- is only available to accredited institutions. That does not mean that specialized or programmatic accreditation won't be the right fit for you. But if the institution isn't also accredited, this method of supplementing the financing of your education won't be an option.
Credits do not easily transfer between institutions, especially those of different accreditation types. If you're looking at community colleges first, it would be worth your time to ask the colleges and universities to which you're considering transferring if they will accept transfer credits from the institution you're currently attending, or plan to attend. Following a path of selecting regionally-accredited institutions will offer you more flexibility to transfer credits if you want to stair-step your way to a more highly selective institution to complete your degree. We are providing you with several websites to help you research and fully understand how the institutions you are considering fit into the accreditation landscape as you strategize your plans for education.
Another thing you need to consider as you're trying to find a right-fit college is to think about your current academic profile, and how that fits into your ultimate goals. Over the years, I've worked with many service members and veterans who came to the application process with very different academic backgrounds. For some, in high school, they simply didn't reach their full academic potential. Their high school record didn't match their intellectual capability. They chose, at that point, to enlist in the military. Others followed a traditional path of going to college right after high school, and found they just weren't ready. Perhaps they weren't mature enough to dedicate themselves to the rigors of an academic environment and dropped out, or were put on academic probation and then left.
And there were even those who did exceptionally well in high school, but felt a personal call to serve their country, and now feel somewhat disconnected between their current situation and their former academic life. Wherever your academic profile might fall in the spectrum, you can achieve your ultimate goal of getting to the college of your choice, but you can't discount your academic record. It may take a little bit more time. If you're unhappy with your academic record, don't worry. There are lots of things you can do to improve it. Don't be discouraged.
Countless service members and veterans I've worked with have chosen the community college path right after active duty, because they wanted to look at a more selective institution, and knew they needed to improve their academic record with a more recent track record. It is certainly an option to take a semester or two, and take some additional general education courses. If you failed courses previously, you can also return to the college you originally attended and retake those courses.
You might think of it this way. Your academic record will stay with you, but it need not stay the same size. Grow your academic record. Demonstrate the new you. Developing an interim strategy to address deficiencies in your preparation, improve grades, or simply display a current level of interest can help set your application apart from others. You are already on a non-traditional route to higher education. Embrace it. If you think you can improve in a meaningful way, adjust your path accordingly. Sure, it will take a little more planning and patience, but the payoffs will be more than worth the effort, even if it is just resetting your own self perception academically.
Just like there is no single best college for every student, there is no single solution to improving your academic record. If you feel like you can, or should, correct portions of your record, sit down and review your options with an academic advisor or admissions officer. You might consider focusing your effort on general education courses. Think English composition or college-level math. That will transfer easily to a wide variety of colleges. Whatever path you choose, seek guidance from an education counselor whenever you can. Be candid about your weaknesses, and seek ways to improve. Both you and your applications will be better for the effort.
I recall one veteran who had his sights set on achieving a degree from a highly-selective institution, but simply could not accept the fact that it would never happen without making corrections to his past academic record. He considered any intermediary steps to be a distraction and a detour to achieving his aims. He ended up giving up on higher education as a path for him altogether, when he had potential. We want to impress upon you, when you look at your academic record objectively, such efforts are anything but a distraction. They are part of the journey.
We are fortunate to have veterans who have stories to tell about their path to a right-fit college. Each story is unique, but they all achieved their ultimate goal in finding a right-fit college. So don't just listen to my advice. Listen to what some student veterans have to say.