Military Benefits and Dantes Credit by Examination

DANTES Credit by Examination

Many students who are interested in credit by examination can take the DSST, or the DANTES Subject Standardized Tests. The DANTES (Defense Activity for Nontraditional Education Support) program by the U.S. Department of Defense is the program that provides the resources for DSST. One of DANTES main objective is to make college more affordable and less time consuming for active duty and veteran military members. Through DANTES, the DSST is started to offer support for service members who were working towards earning their degrees. That is why there is a DANTES credit by examination.

The DANTES credit by examination is a program that gives you the opportunity to demonstrate college-level achievement through a program of exams in undergraduate college courses. The examinations for DSST include 38 subjects which are similar to end-of-course test offered by colleges and universities. This will allow you to earn credits required for a college degree if passed.

There are a lot of positive reasons why you should take credit-by-examinations. One, it saves you money because an average college course can cost over $100 per credit, whereas the DANTES credit by examination is free for service members and only over $40 for civilian student per exam. You also don’t have to be enrolled in college to take the exams which is also one way for you to save up.

Taking the examination also saves you time and helps you skip ahead. An average college course takes three or more months to complete while you could spend less than a month preparing for each test depending on your stored knowledge. And by passing the examinations, you will not have to sit through a boring college course.

Moreover, taking the exams offers you flexibility. Since you are not required to take a college course, you can set your own pace and choose your own study materials.

Tuition Assistance and DANTES Credit By Examination

Members of the National Guard are qualified to get Higher education tuition assistance (TA) for educational purposes, such as up to 100 percent coverage for college programs taken during off-duty time. The National Guard provides guardsmen several programs to support their education and learning goals such as up to 100% TA for college programs taken during off-duty time. According to location, members may get state funded rewards for education and learning based on individual state guidelines and eligibility (i.e. TA, waivers, exceptions, education loan repayment, DANTES Credit By Examination). The following is a brief summary of National Guard tuition advantages for each service.

Go Army Ed (Activated Guard and Reserve) – If triggered, you will be qualified to get Military Higher education tuition assistance for Active Duty and Activated Reserve/Guard. The program provides 100% tuition and fees up to $250 per Term Credit Time and $166 for each Quarter Credit Time, with an annual cap of $4,500.
Air National Guard (ANG) – The ANG provides to its members access to all DANTES credit-by-examination programs, Community College of the Air Forces Associate Degree programs, FTA for online applications and state education and learning advantages.
State college tuition assistance – The same as the ARNG, not all states provide transaction of TA for ANG, although many provide extra rewards in varying quantities.
Air Force College tuition assistance (Activated Guard and Reserve) – If triggered, you will become qualified for Air Force TA for Active Duty and Activated Reserve/Guard. The same hats apply as described above under Go Army Ed TA.

While going to college is now standard, in the past, you were blessed to be able to go to a university. Today, however, most kids are expected to at least study at a college or university. Even grownups are feeling the pressure to acquire higher education and return to college. Unfortunately, traditional college is not an option for everyone, especially for the military servicemen. Great college tuition, work plans, and family lifestyle often make it hard to start or continue college. Fortunately, there are alternatives! Dantes Credit by examination is one alternative that many teenagers and grownups are starting to take seriously.

Credit by examination means that you can get credit for some of the things you already know. Adult scholars, especially, have obtained knowledge outside of the academic setting from the office and life experience. For example, if you show that you already understand college arithmetic, you can test out of that class and claim three credits. This method of earning college credit has been around for the last three decades and is becoming more extensive. Although credit by examination assessments like College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST) were initially designed toward army employees, both are now open to civilians.

Nearly 3,000 schools accept credits earned from the assessments, but not all schools do. To be prepared, check your college’s policy to make sure credits will transfer. College credit exams are widely approved by institutions. By passing these exams, you may earn one-third or more of the attributes required for a degree. These exams are available in more than 150 subjects and are similar to end-of-course assessments offered by colleges. The American Council on Education (ACE) suggests college credit for the following credit-by-examination programs. In most cases your examination results are sent to the appropriate army academic records system (i.e., SMART, CCAF, AARTS, Coast Guard Institute). This will make simpler the transcript request procedure when you start the college registration process.