AUSTIN ⎯ The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) recently announced the award of $1.03 million to support four new accelerated certificate or degree programs through its College Credit for Heroes (CCH) program, a statewide effort designed to maximize the award of college credit to veterans and service members for their military experience. TWC also announced a new partner school for CCH.
“The United States Military produces some of the brightest and most highly-skilled individuals in our workforce,” said Governor Greg Abbott. “The State of Texas’ investment in the College Credit for Heroes program creates an additional avenue for our veterans to further advance their skills and knowledge, creating greater opportunity to get a job they deserve. With the continued expansion of this program, Texas is ensuring that our veterans receive the college credit they have earned through service to our nation, and I applaud the Texas Workforce Commission for their efforts.”
“The College Credit for Heroes program allows skilled veterans and service members who dedicate their lives to our freedom to receive maximum credit for their valuable military service in order to more quickly transition to a Texas career,” said TWC Chairman Andres Alcantar. “I am proud these new partners join us as we work together to better serve the military heroes who choose to make Texas home.”
The addition of the new partner, Texas State University, demonstrates the continued momentum of the CCH program, which has grown to include a network of 48 university and community college partners who will help veterans connect with Texas employers.
“Texas employers are eager to hire skilled veterans, and we’re thrilled that College Credit for Heroes and its partnerships continue to grow,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Ruth R. Hughs. “This program gives employers access to a more qualified workforce and recognizes the veteran’s training and experience gained during their service to our country.”
Veterans can set up an account at CollegeCreditforHeroes.org. Once registered, veterans can access an evaluation of their military experience and training, and request a military transcript from their branch of service to be sent to College Credit for Heroes staff for review. Veterans also may request that a transcript of awarded credits be sent to a Texas college of their choice. In addition, veterans can check the status of evaluations and/or transcript requests, participate in a live chat with a representative, and upload, view and download military evaluation results and related documents.
“By using the College Credit for Heroes website, veterans who are transitioning into civilian life can get a jump-start on their employment search,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Julian Alvarez. “Veterans can learn about and receive college credit for their military skillsets, which can translate into new job opportunities or career advancements.”
New programs that received funding through College Credit for Heroes in 2017 include:
- Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD)— $262, 977 is dedicated to developing the Veterans Education Transition program, designed to create an accelerated transition to a civilian career by replicating existing programs developed by Grayson College and Lee College. The selected programs include heating, ventilation, and air conditioning technology; welding; logistics, supply chain management; and manufacturing technology models to provide direct assessment and alignment for replication.
- Houston Community College (HCC)— $472,687 is dedicated to developing the Veterans Academy for veterans and service members to capitalize on prior military experiences, translating skills, training and experiences into academic credit and gainful workforce employment opportunities within Texas. The Veteran Academy will use a “fast-track” streamlined model that targets two “credit for prior learning” pathways consisting of Transcript Evaluation for College Credit and Conversion of Continuing Education Contact Hours to College Credit in healthcare, information technology, transportation and logistics.
- Lee College— $145,457 is dedicated to establishing an accelerated emergency medical technician (EMT) program. The school will replicate fast track curriculum based on the work done by Temple College to establish a non-credit accelerated program. Veterans who received emergency medical training while serving in the military will have the opportunity to gain credit for prior learning experience and credit by exam for their military coursework and be eligible to receive credit for basic EMT certification (Level 1) and parts of advanced EMT (AEMT) certification (Level 2) and paramedic certification (Level 3).
- Texas State University (TSU)— $145,495 is dedicated to creating and implementing the Accelerate TXState project by developing various online prior learning assessment (PLA) curriculum. As a result, veterans and service members will have access to accelerated learning for employment areas that include athletics, business, business with computer information systems, criminal justice, engineering technology, geography information systems, health care administration, human resource development, occupational therapy, real estate, and social services. PLA will be used to accelerate the veterans’ ability to earn up to 30 hours of college credit for non-collegiate training and/or 24 hours of work-life learning, which will be applied towards a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences.
About College Credit for Heroes
College Credit for Heroes (CCH) was authorized during the 82nd legislative session under SB 1736 and launched in 2011. More than 85,000 veterans have created accounts through the CCH website and 27,000 veterans have received evaluations. CCH evaluations have recommended an average of 25 credit hours per veteran. Texas colleges and universities are awarding an average of 16 credit hours per CCH evaluation.
For more information or to register for the program, visit the College Credit for Heroes website. For more information on workforce programs available for Texas veterans, visit the veterans resource page on the TWC website.
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