Get fit for college - GI Bill, Tuition Assistance, Veterans Education Benefits, Military College Credit, Military to Civilian Transitions - Navy Times

Get fit for college

Want to give college a go, but you’ve been out of school so long that your idea of writing involves updating your Facebook status, and you don’t know how to even spell “quadratic equation” — much less solve one?

You are not alone. Thousands of first-year students need to build up their core academic muscles with remedial courses in math and writing. And you don’t need to worry. Community colleges and even some four-year institutions are prepared to spot you until you’re ready for the heavy lifting of academic life.

“Don’t let it bother you if you have to take some lower-level [refresher] courses before you take for-credit courses. That’s going to help prepare you” for academic success, said Julia O’Dell, associate director of Veterans Upward Bound at the University of Kansas. VUB is a free federal program designed to help low-income and first-generation veteran college students succeed at higher education.

“This is not an intelligence issue. This is not an ‘Are you a [good] student?’ issue,” she said. “It’s usually just a lack of familiarity with the things you are going to do in college.”

That was the case for former Marine Cpl. David Wagoner, who had been away from academia for almost 15 years when he took his first college class last fall at Eastern Kentucky University.

“I was home-schooled and hadn’t been in school since 1996,” the 32-year-old occupational therapy major said. “Going into a classroom ... made me very nervous. I had avoided college for many years and didn’t think I could do it.”

The farther he got from high school graduation, the more he forgot, so Wagoner was not surprised when testing showed his math skills were not as strong as they needed to be. He decided to enroll in EKU’s Veterans Bridge to College Success program, which provides veterans-only remedial classes in English, math and reading. This semester, he is taking the second of two required math classes.

Like Wagoner, many student veterans taking remedial or developmental courses need them because they have been out of the classroom for a long time. For example, O’Dell said, 82 percent of the VUB participants she sees score below the 12th-grade level on standardized assessments. That “likely means they have been out of an education environment for four or five years,” she said.

Another factor: the classes they took in high school. You can’t be expected to still know something if you’ve never learned it in the first place.

“A lot of individuals going into the military [right after graduation] are not taking college-prep classes in high school,” O’Dell said. “They have not been exposed to algebra and upper-level math.”

Academic fit rep

How do you find out if you need some extra classroom time? In most cases, the school will determine that, O’Dell said.

Some use scores from college admissions exams like the ACT or SAT. Others require students to take placement exams like COMPASS or ACCUPLACER as part of the application process.

“The sooner you take that initial placement test, the better,” O’Dell said. “That tells [students] where they are.”

She recommends taking the test even if you’re not sure you want to enroll. That doesn’t commit you to attending the school; it just gives you the facts you need to make a good decision, she said.

Most community colleges charge nothing, or a minimal fee, for their first placement test.

If you want to get a sense of your college readiness before you apply, check to see if there is a Veterans Upward Bound program at a nearby school. Even if you aren’t applying to that school, the VUB staff can assess you, O’Dell said.

If tests show that you’re not ready for college-level work, a four-year school might direct you to a two-year school that has more resources for building the basics. Or if, like Eastern Kentucky, the school has its own remedial classes, it might accept you conditionally, with the requirement that you take a semester-long developmental class or classes.

At EKU, for example, students in that situation are limited to 12 credit hours per semester until they complete their remedial instruction, said Brett Morris, the university’s associate director for veterans affairs. They can’t enroll in certain higher-level classes. But if they fail a class, they can retake it, and the university provides tutorial assistance to help them complete the coursework. Once students complete all of their remedial course work with a 2.0 grade-point average or better, their admission status is changed and they can take more than 12 hours.

If the school doesn’t have separate classes, you may be required to attend supplemental labs or mandatory tutoring sessions to get you up to speed.

Training program

Make sure the school does a good job of explaining where you need to be academically to qualify for credit-bearing classes, O’Dell said. If your score indicates you need remedial math, for example, how many points do you have to raise that score to be eligible to take a college-level math course? And how many times are you allowed to take the placement test?

“Go in with your eyes open. Know where you are academically when you start your program,” O’Dell said.

Because remedial classes are not, by definition, college-level courses, they often qualify only for institutional credit: They count toward enrollment status for purposes of financial aid eligibility and full-time student status but not toward graduation from a degree program.

They do, however, cost the same as credit-bearing classes. Fortunately, they are covered by military tuition assistance and VA education benefits. Unfortunately, they may use up several months of benefit eligibility.

“If the four-year clock isn’t going to even start ticking until you take your remedial classes, it’s harder to see the benefit that you’re going to derive from all these costs,” O’Dell said.

If your placement scores indicate you’re close to where you need to be, you might consider doing the remedial work on your own, O’Dell said. Plan to practice for three for four months, then take the assessment test again.

Websites such as www.purplemath.com offer free online algebra tutoring and lessons, and YouTube can be a great resource for how to solve mathematic equations, she said. If your deficiencies lie in the area of reading, pick up the newspaper and start looking at the articles critically.

Or check out Peterson’s Online Academic Skills Course for Military Success, a free resource for service members and their families, which provides self-paced, customizable remedial education in a variety of subject areas. For more information, go to http://www.nelnetsolutions.com/oasc/.

But be warned: Going it alone requires discipline.

“Veterans Upward Bound is a very structured format,” O’Dell said. “It’s very hard for individuals to put that kind of structure on themselves.”

To find a list of VUB programs nationwide, visit the VUB program locator on the National Association of Veterans Upward Bound Project Personnel Web page at http://www.navub.org/index.php. Students apply for VUB through individual programs, O’Dell said.

Getting back in shape

Getting back in academic shape — whether on your own, in a remedial class or through Veterans Upward Bound — doesn’t have to derail the start of your college dream. You can still take some credit-earning classes while refreshing your algebra or writing skills.

“We recommend [students] go ahead and enroll in school but don’t take math or anything that is going to require a high level of writing that first semester,” O’Dell said.

In the first of two required math refresher courses last semester at EKU, Wagoner, the former Marine, quickly regained his academic confidence, particularly because he was surrounded by fellow vets.

“Being away from math class for [more than] a dozen years, it helped me out that I was among what I considered peers,” he said. “Asking simple questions I should know, like multiplying fractions, I don’t feel inferior at all.”

And for his part, Wagoner is encouraged that he can take his developmental course work at the same time he is taking other classes that count toward his degree.

“I don’t have to go to community college and waste a year of developmental education,” he said. “I can take them and still take … nine credits that count toward my degree.”