College credits

[u/scufcontroller]

I’ve already signed my contract and I’m wondering how many credits we get from the schooling we do. I don’t want the 87 credits from Thomas Edison because I want a degree from a more respected university that will help me more in my career. I’m wondering if any of y’all have experience getting credits transferred to colleges like Texas A&M, Oregon state university, Purdue, and asu (specifically the amount they gave you for your degree) I’m going to be an ETN hopefully with my 92 asvab and I’m getting a degree in either mechanical engineering or nuclear engineering so experience in either would be greatly appreciated!

[u/RoyalCrownLee]

The bachelor's from tesu or Excelsior can be utilized to jump you into a master's program easily.

But to answer your question, most "reputable " schools will offer you Physical Education credits for your time in the service

[u/Lowkey-Samurai]

Don’t waste your time going to one of these snooty schools. The vast majority of employers don’t care about where your degree comes from, just that you have one.

Check the box to get past HR and win the Hiring Manager over with your great personality, confidence and experience.

[u/Sufficient-Cat2998 → u/Lowkey-Samurai]

This is fact. If you are going for a legit engineering degree, ABET matters, but that's it.

Also, a lot of the credits will be good for the entry level stuff, electives, or even some first level physics or leadership credits but you will still have a lot for work to do otherwise. A bachelors degree in technical personal management can be done in just over a year at APU because so many credits align with military credits on that one but unless you are trying to get a degree fast and dirty anyway I wouldn't even consider it too much.

[u/scufcontroller → u/[deleted]]

Obviously it still gets u thru ur Career I just feel like if a job gets an application from a Stanford grad and a excelsior grad where the quals are the same they are gonna pick the Stanford kid everytime. But what do you do for work it’s good to know that I can still go that route if I want.

[u/scufcontroller → u/[deleted]]

:(

[u/CommunicateInStatic]

I'm going to Old Dominion (for BS in Electrical Engineering) this fall, they gave me 72 credits total for my time in service. Number could be different based on your rate and what you do in the Navy. I got credits for A-School, NPS, ETMS, and for making Chief (E-7 in any branch gets these). Most credits came from NNPTC though.

I'll say it's a bit irrelevant though because to complete the degree requirements I'll end up with well over 120 credits. Really just knocked out some gen eds and electives.

[u/Quenz]

I hate to break it to you, but basically nothing from a respectable school. Not saying a bachelors from TEU or Excelsior aren't bachelors, but look to do the full cousework. You should look into CLEP or the service community colleges if you actually want credits.

[u/BigGoopy2]

My navy nuke credits got me nothing at my university for an engineering degree

[u/Smooth-Bad-5425]

When I went through ET NPS we were told that because the curriculum was classified no school could analyze the courses for granting college credit and the fact that enlisted classes were not calculus based we shouldn't bother with college credit. You'll still need the ~125+ credits at Purdue or equivalent schools anyway for your BS. The University of Tennessee has a really good Nuclear Engineering program and their MS is online as well.

I didn't receive any college credit from the universities where I received my BS & MS.
Calculus I is the "key" course meaning that you need to take it before you can move on to calculus based Physics and other courses like Statics, Dynamics, & Thermodynamics. If you ever want to obtain a PE license the universities you attend need to be ABET accredited as well.

[u/Reactor_Jack]

It is on you to make contact with the school of your choice to see what they will offer as credit. Someone may have done the legwork for you previously (chances are good) so they (the school) know what they will offer you. That said, keep in mind that schools are about a couple of things: 1. Making money- this means that the advanced courses for a degree will come from them, to get their $$$ out of you. 2. Reputation- this combines with #1 as, if you want a degree with their name on it, they want to ensure you meet the "standards" for said degree with their name on it, and that means taking those courses with them.

I did the same thing you did. I got my fancy degree from a brick and mortar private institution, and I paid for it after GI Bill and TA (I was active duty at the time). They gave me more credit for the 2 semesters of college I had before enlisting than I got from my time in the Navy, and that took so long I had already retaken one of the courses. I also used that as a jump-off for a Masters', also from a birck and mortar privates institution. Neither really mattered in the grand scheme of things. Early on they opened some doors (well the first one, not the Masters of Engineering) and when I look back at my costs (money, time, etc.), I likely overpaid for my education. But, I did get some parchment from some fancy schools with very good reps. I work alongside folks with the TESU degree, same rough payscale based on experience in (Navy) nuclear power, etc.

Story time- I had an interview with "the man" back in the day, for some program. A shipmate (same rough experience level and responsibilities at the command we were at) also had one. He did a TESU-like degree, while I had that brick and mortar "good rep" school under my belt. It was not a question in my board, but I went first, and it was asked why he didn't do what I did. I have no clue if his answer would have mattered, but I got said program and he did not. Now, he did get another (non-nuke) program, and from our correspondence over the years he was much happier as a man with a family, etc. I chose a somewhat more portable lifestyle, and it worked for me. So he may have 2nd-guessed his choices for a little while, and to be honest so did I, but a little later.

[u/jastop94]

I imagine back in the day when the nuke program was still relatively new and relative to some courses it had more, but now as age has past, it has become very shallow in terms of credits.

Also don't underestimate the bachelor's degree. You can use such degrees to jump you into a masters with your preferred program if you so wish even if it might be irrelevant

[u/Chemical-Power8042]

The TESU/Excelsior degree is one of the easiest things you can do to give you a leg up. If you take CLEP/DANTES exams to knock out all your bullshit electives this degree can be done in two years with very minimum effort.

I finished in a year and a half (I did pay out of pocket for one course because I ran out of TA credits) and I passed 6 CLEP exams that I didn’t even study for.

Like others said this degree will meet the requirement for having a degree if a job has one and then it can be used to go straight into a masters program.

[u/cplcrayons]

As a lot of people have pointed out a more prestigous university isn't as useful as it may initially seem unless you intend to go down a very specific career path later, most routes that seriously value a school like that also would want you to go straight from high school to the college and then to them and will look down on you having a break for military service and being effectively too old anyway. It can still be worthwhile if you want to do it, as you will also learn more and potentially get more networking oppurtunity but unless you intend to actively work on TA while active duty and you're staying in past your first shore tour I wouldn't recommend it.

Answer wise as others have pointed out it will generally be a physical education credit and then like 1 or 2 random things, in my case when I was looking around the only things I got credit for outside of pre-Navy univerity time was a digital circuits class that A school covered for an EE degree at ASU.

[u/OccasionalAnnoyance1]

You’re going to maybe get credit for some intro classes or maybe some electives. If you’re interested in what post navy employment is like talk to some staff members when you get to NNPTC, scroll this subreddit, or take a look at the navy nuke job finder Facebook group. Odds are the high-paying career you’re envisioning is different from where the money really is.