Texas Governor Perry Gives Vets School Credit for Service

Should military veterans receive college credit for their service? 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry believes that they should.  Last month he signed legislation into law that does just that. 

The initiative is called “College Credit for Heroes” and it permits veterans and active-duty military men and women to use their military experience and training as transferable college credits. 

Students, who are either vets or active military, are given the opportunity to “test-out” of fundamental courses to avoid unnecessary overlap and redundancy.  This option serves two purposes, the first is to expedite their college experience and the second is to help them save money on tuition and the ancillary costs associated with earning a college degree. 

Author of the bill, San Antonio Senator Leticia Van de Putte had this to say about the new law, “The military has spent millions and millions in training in skills, everything from health, to logistics, to computer, to cyber-security. We know those translate into skills and mastering of college credits.”

According to Van de Putte, another function of the new law is to help ease the student’s transition from a military lifestyle back to a civilian one.

For a really compelling narrative on the transition from a military lifestyle back to a civilian one, and the matriculation process for WWII vets applying to college, one should check out Eugene Sledge’s story, one of the real life hero’s portrayed in the HBO miniseries, The Pacific (his story about college registration starts at 5:45, but it’s worth watching the whole video).