A Guide to Master's DegreesforMilitary Members and Veterans

Meet the Expert

Introduction

It’s no secret military service teaches skill sets that are valued in the private sector. Leadership, management, organization, communication and team building are just a few in high demand throughout the business world. Developing these assets starts at basic training and continues on through Individual Advanced Training. Experience and leadership schools continue to hone these skills as one makes his/her way up through the ranks.

Businesses in the private sector actively seek highly qualified individuals with experience to fill many of their vacant positions. However, as the responsibility and technological complexity of the vacant positions increases, the pool of qualified people decreases. Many of the military members and veterans applying for these positions have the on-the-job practical experience, but lack the college education many companies require to hold the position.

The good news is, military members and veterans represent one of the fastest-growing groups of new college students. The number of veterans going to college rose 67 percent from 564,487 students in 2009 (when the Post 9/11 GI Bill® came on board) to 945,052 in 2012 (the latest year for which data is available). Of that number, 48 percent are in undergraduate programs and 32 percent in graduate school. The remaining are in doctoral, certification or licensure programs.

The following guide provides key information for military members and veterans thinking about (or on the precipice of pursuing) a master’s degree. It dives into the educational benefits, financial options, the most in-demand programs and other considerations all current and former service members need to know before taking the first step toward graduate-level learning.

Military Skills and Master’s Degrees

Private companies often find recent college graduates who possess the degree needed to do the technical aspects of a job. Yet many of those candidates lack experience working in dynamic, interpersonal environments where teamwork matters just as much as individual performance. This is where military members and veterans have a big leg up on their young civilian counterparts. The service teaches many of the hard skills required to do the job, but it also teaches “soft” skills such as leadership, communication, organization and team building.

This combination of hard and soft skills gives service members and veterans a solid foundation on which to build. They’re battle-tested (literally) and know how to deal with and flourish in high-stress situations. However, just as new college grads little to no work experience, some military members and vets lack the requisite formal education. And while a bachelor’s degree is a great first step, master’s degrees have fast become the gold standard for advanced careers. For service members and veterans ready to learn at the graduate level, the following military-learned skills match very well to a number of popular master’s degrees.

Interview: From the Military to Master’s Student

Heather C. is a résumé client of mine and currently works as a Battalion S1 for the Army Reserve. She currently has a bachelor’s degree and three master’s degrees. She is a wealth of knowledge as you’ll see in the interview:

Graduate School Admissions

Getting into grad school is not easy. Besides having a bachelor’s degree, prospective students have to meet certain eligibility requirements, which vary from school to school. Some schools accept upper division credits earned from military training and experience. Many schools waive the application fee and allow active duty personnel and veterans to test out (with at least a specified grade point average (GPA)) on pre-courses aimed to evaluate aptitude, instead of submitting the normal college entrance exam test scores.

But there are still schools that require all students to submit undergraduate transcripts, test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), letters of recommendation, essays and possibly evidence of completion of specific pre-admission courses as part of their admissions process. Ask questions and shop around.

While both the GRE and GMAT test the applicant’s overall ability in verbal, quantitative and analytical skills, the GMAT has more of a business focus. Both tests are designed to evaluate the applicant’s ability to think, along with test knowledge in math, vocabulary, reading comprehension and writing.

Before taking either test, applicants should be sure they know which test their school requires. Some business schools accept either test, but that is the exception and not the norm.

Upper Division Credit Transfer

Military transcript credits for prior learning (the training and military occupations held while serving) break down into lower and upper division credits. Grad schools will normally transfer in up to a certain number of upper division credits. As a student, this reduces the number of credits needed get a graduate degree. Not only does this save money, but also time – and gets a career started earlier.

Application Fee Waivers

Many of the more military-friendly schools offer graduate degree application fee waivers. Some schools have a specified requirement to get the waiver, such as applying to graduate school within three years of getting out of the military.

Pre-Admission Courses

Instead of requiring military members or veterans to take either the GRE or GMAT, some schools allow the student to take specified courses as a predictor of their aptitude. Courses required vary according to the type of master’s degree desired. Usually courses are at least three credits and may be taken either on-campus or online. Most schools require meeting a minimum grade or grade point average (GPA) for the pre-admission courses.

Financing a Master’s Degree

Master’s degrees can run a pretty penny. Some master’s programs can surpass $40,000, depending on program type, length and location. Consequently, it is not a decision that should be taken lightly and how to fund a grad school degree should be one of the major considerations. However, there are many ways to fund a master’s degree; many of the popular ways are discussed below. The bottom line up front -- exhaust all other sources of funding before resorting to student loans.

Active duty personnel have a couple of funding options not available to veterans: Tuition Assistance (TA) and Tuition Top-Up. While TA is a standalone program funded by the Department of Defense, Top-Up is a combination of TA and entitlement from the student’s GI Bill. Using TA or Top-Up are great ways to maximize GI Bill benefits, as TA pays a good portion of the tuition bill.

Veterans on the other hand are limited to using the funding options listed below and any veteran education benefits that may be offered by their state.

GI Bills®

Today, many service members are coming out of the military with at least two GI Bills – usually the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) and Post 9/11 GI Bill. By exhausting their MGIB entitlement first and then switching over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, veterans can get up to 48 months of education benefits -- enough to fund a four-year degree and at least part of a master’s degree.

While serving, most of the military branches offer TA to their members. By taking full advantage of this benefit, military members can earn a four-year degree while on active duty, thus preserving more of their GI Bill benefits to fund a graduate degree.

MGIB

The MGIB pays the student a set amount each month to go to school. With three years of service, the 2013 rate is currently $1,648 per month for up to 36 months. Out of that amount the student must pay tuition, fees, books and other education-related expenses.

Post 9/11 GI Bill®

The New GI Bill (as it is also known) is different than all other GI Bills in that the VA pays the student’s tuition to the school directly. If attending a public school, a grad student with three years of service could get up to 100 percent of his or her tuition paid at the resident tuition level; students who pay non-resident tuition are responsible to pay the difference (unless they can use the Yellow Ribbon Program discussed below). Attend a private school and the VA would pay up to $20,235.02 per year towards tuition.

NOTE: Non-resident tuition should almost be a thing of the past for veterans at most schools. As of this writing, Congress just passed a bill that would require schools to charge veterans the resident rate regardless of residency, if the school wanted to continue to accept Post 9/11 GI Bill funding. The bill is currently on the President’s desk for signature and should be signed by the time you read this.

Under this GI Bill, veterans also get a monthly housing allowance based on the zip code of the school and the number of credits taken; members still serving do not get the housing allowance. However, both military members and veterans get a book stipend that calculates out at $41.67 per credit per semester with a $1,000 per academic year cap.

The Yellow Ribbon Program

A feature of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the Yellow Ribbon Program cannot be used independently. It can be a very valuable program for students attending a private grad school or paying non-resident tuition at a public school.

For schools having a Yellow Ribbon Agreement with the VA, the school states how much they would pay toward the difference between what they charge and what the Post 9/11 GI Bill pays. The VA commits to paying an equal amount (on top of the $20,000+ they already pay). Also, the school states which programs are included in their agreement, how many students they accept into the program, and the maximum amount paid to each Yellow Ribbon student.

Prospective grad students who may be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon program should first check the current Yellow Ribbon School List to see if their school is part of the program, and if their grad program is included in that agreement.

Scholarships for Service Members and Veterans

Even with tuition assistance, Top-Up and the GI Bill, additional funding is usually needed to help pay the tuition costs of a master’s degree. Fortunately, there are myriad scholarships available that do not require payback.

Military-friendly scholarships come from a variety of sources: veteran organizations, private foundations and from the schools themselves. The rule of thumb when trying to secure education funding is to apply early and apply often. Why? Scholarships take work to get. First, there is finding them; this can take some Internet searching. Then comes applying for them; some have simple application forms to fill out while others may have additional requirements, such as writing an essay. Regardless of the application procedures, follow them to the letter and submit application packets well before their deadline.

The money is out there for the taking; each year millions of dollars go unused due to the lack of applicants. Time spent searching and applying is time well spent.

Listed below is a small sampling of scholarships available to military and veteran students seeking funding for a master’s degree:

Other Sources of Financing

Besides the GI Bills and scholarships, there are also federally backed loans, work-study programs, fellowships and assistantships. Loans should be used as a last resort as they require payback once out in the work force. It is a daunting feeling coming out of school already burdened with debt.

All of these programs should be your financial sources of choice when looking to fund a master’s degree. When applying, keep in mind that scholarships are usually awarded based on merit while grants are awarded based on need. However, certain grants for master’s degrees can be either merit- or need-based.

Grants

One of the main sources of master’s degree grants is in the U.S. Department of Education. Their grants fall into three categories:

• Discretionary. Awarded through a competitive formal review process that evaluates applications against published selection criteria.
• TEACH. Awarded to students who want to teach in high-need fields generally defined as bilingual education, English language acquisition, foreign language, mathematics, reading specialist, science, and special education.
• Formula. Uses a formula determined by Congress to award instead of an application process. The formula takes in consideration some form of quantifiable measurable data, such as low income, infant mortality, population, etc. and awards grants based on how applications specifically pertain to the formula.

Unsubsidized Stafford Loans

Graduate students can get up to $20,500 per year up to a maximum amount of $138,500 (including undergraduate Stafford Loan debt). Interest rates vary as the rate is determined by the 10-year Treasury note, but generally run an additional 3.6 percent to a cap of 9.5 percent. Once the loan is awarded, the interest rate is locked and will not change throughout the life of the loan. Because these loans are unsubsidized, interest starts accruing right away.

Graduate PLUS Loans

This loan can only be used after exhausting Stafford Loan options. However, eligible students can get a loan to cover all costs of school, including reasonable living expenses. Interest rates are determined the same way as with Stafford Loans, however the added percentage is 4.3 percent with a cap of 10.5 percent.

Federal Work Study

Need-based, it provides part-time jobs to graduate students. Jobs are related to course study and may be located either on or off campus. Students are paid at least once per month and the money may be applied toward tuition, fees, books, or room and board. Also, some schools have their own work study programs.

Fellowships

Fellowships are usually broken down into three different types:

• Federally Funded Portable
• Independent Organizations Portable
• Institutional

Portable fellowships may be used at a school of the student’s choice where an institutional fellowship must be used at the school from where it was awarded. The amount of the stipend depends on several factors.

Assistantships

Financial assistance provided to graduate students for part-time academic work. Pay for work can be a stipend or tuition remission. Assistantships usually take one of two forms – either teaching or research.

A teaching assistantship consists of helping a professor conduct labs or study groups, preparing lectures, grading papers or a combination of all. A research assistantship is more focused and assists a professor with research projects or studies.

Challenges and Solutions

Going back to school after serving in the military can be challenging. Eighty-seven percent of veterans going to school are age 24 and older; Forty-seven percent have a family to support; some students suffer from mental issues in varying degrees from having served in combat zones.

Being an older student makes it harder to relate to younger fellow students. Not only does the age gap create its own problems, but differing experiences do, as well. While their peers they may be young and unattached, many veteran students have family responsibilities.

Veterans fresh from combat may not yet have fully acclimated to civilian life; noisy campuses can be particularly troublesome; so troublesome in fact that many combat vets choose online programs so they don’t have to experience the uncomfortable conditions on campus.

Below are ten challenges veterans and service members commonly experience when going back to school, along with proven solutions for each.

Online Master’s Degrees

Many military friendly colleges and universities have both hybrid and online master’s degree programs that fall into one of five categories:

• Master of Science (M.S.) – Focuses on research in science, health and some social sciences.
• Master of Arts (M.A.) – A concentrated program in one of the humanities: English, communication, philosophy or history.
• Masters of Business Administration (MBA) – Some programs cover business principles in general while other programs concentrate in marketing, finance, accountancy, international business, project management or information technology.
• Master of Education (M.Ed.) - A degree for educators wanting to advance their career and further their knowledge of education.
• Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) – A degree for students who want to further their major in the creative or performing arts, such as creative writing, visual arts, filmmaking, dance and theater.

The Advantages of Online Courses

Online courses are delivered in two different ways: synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous requires all participants to be connected remotely to the instructor at the same time; asynchronous does not require that connection all at the same time and has quickly become the delivery of choice for military personnel and veterans.

Flexibility

Military members and many veterans going to school online have daily work commitments, so being able to study as their schedule permits is an important advantage for earning a master’s degree online. For military members deployed 7,000 miles away, flexibility to access coursework any time of the day or night can help bridge these substantial time and place gaps.

No Commute

Online students can spend what would be commuting time to work on coursework at home. And not only does the student save time, but also money by avoiding gas and other car-related expenses.

Freedom of Time

Time is a limited commodity for all of us; there are only so many hours in the day. Going to and from classes takes away from things such as quality time with family. In a 2013 study by Learning House Inc., 72 percent of students thought the time they spent getting their online degree was worthwhile.

Freedom of Place

With an online degree, all a student needs is a computer and an Internet connection. This means one can study while at a coffee shop, in the lunchroom at work, at a public library or even while on deployment thousands of miles away. Time that would otherwise be wasted can now be made productive through online learning.

Cost

While the cost of a getting an online degree itself isn’t much different from getting one on campus, students do save by not having to pay certain fees, such as campus parking, transportation, or, in many cases, buying books (although some distance learning courses still require hard cover textbooks, most online master’s degree programs include all needed resources online). In that same Learning House study, 65 percent indicated their online degree was worth the financial investment. Fifty-eight percent received a pay increase after getting their online master’s degree.

Course Availability

Most on-campus degree programs limit the number of students who can attend class simultaneously, usually due to physical restrictions. Once the course is filled, no other students can enroll in that course for that semester. Some students wait two or three semesters before they can get a seat in a required course.

Due to not having a physical restriction, many online courses can support a larger number of students, so a student taking an online master’s degree program can usually enroll for the courses they need when it fits into their schedule.

Some students earn their entire master’s degree without taking a single step on campus. Other students taking hybrid courses, do most of their work online, but periodically visit campus to talk to professors, attend the occasional class or collaborate with peers. Usually lab-enriched degree programs include some hybrid courses so that the lab portion can be done in a controlled environment with the proper equipment.

Interview: From Military to Master’s in Education

Bob B. is a friend of mine and an educator and administrator with experience as a dean of students and high school principal. After earning his bachelor’s degree, he taught for many years before seeing an opportunity to move into administration. But one contingency of the position was having at least a master’s degree. He actually went on to earn two master’s degrees.

Conclusion

In this guide, we explored some of the challenges military members and veterans face when looking to start a master’s degree program. We also looked at the different degrees available, what to look for when selecting a school, and how to finance a graduate degree.

And the interviews with Heather and Bob helped to illuminate challenges and solutions with graduate study and how getting a master’s degree can further a career. If taken to heart, the information in this guide will help both military members and veterans make smart choices when starting a master’s degree program.

* GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/.