Transcript (SOC) Degree Network System

SOC Degree Network System
Transformation
Council of College and Military Educators (CCME)
January 26, 2015
SOC is funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) through a contract with the
American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). The contract is managed for DoD by
the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES).
The DNS as of January 2015
The DNS is a participatory college course articulation system, started in 1979
and includes:

155 institutions
— 508 associate degrees
— 466 bachelor’s degrees

9,995 participating courses, with more than 200,000 course to course
articulations, across 472 standardized Course Category Codes
— Two-way guaranteed course transferability among member schools where
Course Categories exist

More than one million SOC DNS Student Agreements issued
— Student Agreements are “contracts for degrees”
— Issued to active-duty servicemembers and eligible family members
— Remains in effect through separation
Earning a Degree From a DNS School
Student selects
home college
Non-traditional Credit
Home College
Home college issues Student
Agreement based on full evaluation of
prior learning:
--courses from other colleges
--nationally-recognized exam results
--ACE Guide credit recommendations
for military training and experience
--certification examinations
The student completes 25% academic
residence (30% for fully online degree)
while completing degree
Home college
awards degree
Meeting
servicemembers
needs
Student Agreement is updated with
additional, applicable military-related
credit and nationally-recognized
examination results
Other Colleges
Remaining degree requirements on
the Student Agreement may be
completed at other colleges
Courses with SOC DNS Course
Category Codes shared by Core
Member institutions transfer back to
the home college
Student seeks prior, official approval
from home college to transfer other
courses to meet degree
requirements
The Value of a DNS Membership
 Demonstrates/Documents identity as a militarycentric institution
 Provides program visibility to potential military
student markets
 Engages leadership in VolEd forums/exchanges
 Supplies key data input into DoD/Military Services
on educational programs and priorities
DNS Building Blocks
 Key features valued by Military Services:
— Guaranteed-Transferability
— Evaluated credit for military training/experience
— Accelerated Degree completion
 Student Agreements
 Graduate Report
 Career-related degree options
SOC DNS Changes
 Consolidates SOC Degree Network System by
removing Service distinctions by program
(SOCAD/NAV/MAR/COAST)
 Maintains guaranteed course transferability as
central focus of the SOC DNS
 Provides increased degree options for
servicemembers across participating Services—
Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard
Long-Term Initiatives
 Enhanced search functionality and Web site
 Revised Student Agreement (SA) and improved
SA submission process
 Communication/Training plan
 Improved process for submitting Annual Handbook
Update and Graduate Survey
Short-Term Tasks
 Membership criteria modified
 Proposed membership criteria awaiting Inter-service
Voluntary Education Board (IVEB) approval
 Two-tiered process
— institutional review for quality and compliance
— degree level based on VOLED needs assessment
and enrollment patterns
 Articulation agreements—2+2s, state articulations
 Broader approach to career-related degree inclusion
Proposed Institution-Level Criteria
for DNS Membership
Membership Criteria
Definition
MOU Signatory
Must have signed the current DoD MOU version
Current Enrollment Trend
DoD/Services
Quantifiable enrollments of students using TA funding
Current Enrollment Trend
DNS
Quantifiable enrollments using SOC DNS Student Agreement data
(average per year)
Tuition/Cost
Tuition rate as identified in the DoD MOU application
Loan Default Rate
The loan default rate, as identified by the
U.S. Department of Education, for the Institution (3-yr average)
Median Borrowing Rate
The Median Borrowing Rate, as defined by the College ScoreCard
Composite Financial Health
The Financial Composite Score, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education
Proposed Institution-Level Criteria
for DNS Membership
Membership Criteria
Definition
90/10 Rule Violation Status
Compliance with the 90/10 rule,
as reported by the U.S. Department of Education
Retention Rates, calculated
separately for institutions
with 2- and 4-year programs.
For DNS-2 Institutions: Retention Rate
as defined by the U.S. Department of Education, for the Institution
For DNS-4 Institutions: Retention Rate,
as defined by the U.S. Department of Education, for the Institution
Course Completion Rate
For undergraduate students using military Tuition Assistance data
Flexible Policies
Must clearly state, in its catalog, policies applying to Servicemembers
ensuring flexibility towards completing a degree program with that Institution
Readmission Policy
Clearly state the U.S. Department of Education Readmission Policy in its catalog
Prior Learning
Assessment Policies
Clearly state policies on awarding credit for Prior Learning in its catalog
Complaint History
Past Performance in DNS
Identify complaints filed against the institution in PECS
For current DNS members only: satisfactorily meeting
the membership requirements during the last year
Proposed Degree-Level Criteria
for DNS Membership
Membership Criteria
Definition
Current Enrollment
Trend-DoD/Services
Quantifiable military enrollments in the degree using TA funding
Delivery Methods
Flexible and multiple Delivery Methods,
as identified by the U.S. Department of Education
Emerging Career Fields
Degree program is listed as an emerging high demand career field with positive
job placement opportunities, per U.S. Department of Labor
Guaranteed Transferability (GT)
Participate in two-way guarantee of coursework with a minimum of 40%
in the Major/Major Related degree requirements
Specialized Accreditation
Degree has specialized programmatic accreditation,
as identified by the U.S. Department of Education
Career-Related Degree
A direct relationship to MOS/Ratings. If yes, does
the Institution agree to award credit for military training and experience?
Academic Residency Metric from SOC
Principles and Criteria
Agree to SOC Principles and Criteria regarding no final year/final semester
and the reduced academic residency of 25%/30%
Program Articulations
Identification of existing articulation agreements
(in-state, 2+2, degree completion) for the degree
Thoughts and Feedback
on the Proposed Criteria
 TA Course completion rate-important to determine how to
handle non-completion (W/M)
 PECS Compliance-insure consider only valid complaints
 Increasing the requirements for DNS membership may make
it too difficult for colleges; creates barriers to military student
access and success
 Concern that current DNS members who are currently good
stewards, are being penalized or adding more requirements
 Retention of first time, full time students not a good indicator
of how serving military students. Need to be cautious
 Employability, Emerging Careers? Too much emphasis How
about career paths of current TA users?
 What advantage is there to stay in the DNS?
Proposed Criteria-What other criteria to
add or consider?
 Cost to Degree Completion
 Time to Degree Completion (av
erage)
 Needs Assessment across the Services should be
standardized, consistent
 Might consider career services being offered by
institution, for military student populations
 Most of criteria are quantitative metrics, might want to
consider qualitative assessment metrics
Contact Us
Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges
1307 New York Avenue, NW
Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20005-4701
Phone: (800) 368-5622
(202) 667-0079
Fax:
(202) 667-0622
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.soc.aascu.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
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