Army Family resources - Army Times

Education: What’s available to military families

Education is important to service members — whether you’re talking about the quality of schools for children, opportunities for spouses to further their education or advancing your own education. Education benefits, both personal and professional, are a mainstay of military service — money for school, the chance to earn a degree while serving and career advancement.

DoD Education Activity

Education facilities for children of service members and Defense Department civilians are at a number of installations. The Defense Department Education Activity oversees these facilities, grouping them into two systems: the stateside Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) and the overseas Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS).

Domestic schools

The Defense Department operates 65 DDESS schools, mostly elementary, at 15 installations in eight states, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, with more than 2,300 education professionals serving about 25,000 students, according to January 2007 DoDEA statistics. The schools offer pre-kindergarten through 12th grade for eligible children who live on posts or bases.

Overseas schools

DoDDS-Europe operates 98 schools in five districts — Bavaria, Heidelberg, Isles, Kaiserslautern and Mediterranean — and serves 39,000 school-age children of active-duty military and federal civilian employees.

DoDDS-Pacific serves more than 23,000 students enrolled in 45 schools across Japan, South Korea, Okinawa and Guam.

DoDDS is free for children of service members and federal civilian employees. Enrollment is guaranteed for “command-sponsored” children, those whom the active-duty member has official approval to bring overseas at government expense. Children without command sponsorship can enroll free if space is available. Nonmilitary children also can enroll if space is available, but they must pay tuition.

All DoDDS high schools are accredited by the North Central Accreditation Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. DDESS high schools are undergoing a phased accreditation by the NCA-CASI.

Beginning with the 2007-08 school year, the DoDEA high school graduation requirement will be 26 credits for students, increasing from 24.

Special education programs

DoDEA provides free education to all students with disabilities who are entitled to enroll in the military’s overseas and stateside schools. The school system serves children with mild to severe disabilities. Programs are offered for children with learning, physical, communication or emotional impairments.

Preschool services are provided for disabled children as young as 3. Active-duty members must enroll children with disabilities in the Exceptional Family Member Program, which helps ensure the child’s educational and medical needs can be met.

All the services have the Exceptional Family Member Program, but they organize it a bit differently. The Army and Marine Corps have their EFMP advocates in installation family centers, while the Navy and Air Force have their EFMP programs and special-needs coordinators in their medical treatment facilities.

Contact

Department of Defense Education Activity, 4040 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1635. Overseas schools, (703) 588-3051; Special education office, (703) 588-3148; http://www.dodea.edu.

Militarystudent.dod.mil

The vast majority of military children attend civilian schools, and many make a transition every few years to another school when their military parent transfers to a new duty location. The Defense Department Web site http://www.militarystudent.dod.mil is designed for students, parents, educators and military officials, with information to help all those involved make the transition easier for the student, whether the child attends schools operated by the Defense Department or by civilian school districts.

Military Child Education Coalition

Parents, students and educators can find a wealth of information about state requirements and other issues related to military children’s education at this group’s Web site, http://www.militarychild.org. This organization looks at everything that affects children in their education, from emotional issues related to transition to differences in states’ policies that make it difficult to transfer from one school to another. Many school districts that educate large numbers of military children participate in the coalition and often work together, for example, to help a student meet graduation requirements when transferring late in a high school career.

MCEC’s SchoolQuest, at http://www.schoolquest.org, is an online tool for families on the move who want to learn about future schools that may fit their children’s needs. It asks questions about relocation plans and each school-aged child’s educational needs, then sorts through a database of information compiled by its team of researchers to present resources, contact information and transition advice about the school districts and schools that serve the selected military community.

SAT/ACT preparatory programs. Military families can get a free SAT or ACT preparatory program through a donation by professional football players who are part of the Victory Sports Group. Go to http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil; click on “Donation: VSG/NFL players” on left.

EDUCATION CENTERS

In addition to active-duty personnel, family members can enroll in college programs offered through all service branch education centers and Navy College offices. The centers may offer some testing services to family members for a fee.

MILITARY ACADEMIES

Service academy applicants must be nominated to be considered for appointment. Most receive nominations from members of Congress. Other sources include presidential nominations for children of career service members, and regular and reserve unit nominations.

Applicants must be 17 to 23 years old by July 1 of the year of entrance; a U.S. citizen (except for limited numbers of applicants from foreign countries); of good moral character; and able to meet academic, physical and medical requirements.

Applicants also must be single, not pregnant and have no legal obligation to support family members. Students are members of the armed forces and receive a fully funded education and an annual salary that helps pay for uniforms, textbooks, PCs and incidentals. There is no tuition. The government provides room and board and medical and dental care.

Upon graduation, students receive bachelor’s of science degrees with their commissions. In return, they must serve five years on active duty and three years in a reserve status.

An extended service commitment applies to Air Force and Navy pilots and navigators.

Contact: Air Force Academy, http://www.usafa.af.mil; U.S. Military Academy at West Point, http://www.usma.edu; Naval Academy, http://www.nadn.navy.mil; Coast Guard Academy, http://www.cga.edu.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarship opportunities for military children and spouses range from the military relief societies’ scholarship programs to the annual Scholarships for Military Children in conjunction with the Defense Commissary Agency, which offers numerous $1,500 scholarships. Local chapters of veterans’ service organizations and spouse clubs are also good places to check for scholarships.

The Defense Department Web site, http://www.militarystudent.dod.mil, and the Military Child Education Coalition, http://www.militarychild.org, offer information and links to some scholarships for military children.

Some scholarships are offered to a broad population, others to a more limited group.

For example, the Alaska Sea Services Scholarship Fund awards four $1,000 scholarships annually. Applicants must be the dependent child or spouse of a legal resident of Alaska who is (or was at the time of death or missing-in-action status) a regular or reserve Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard member on active duty, inactive duty or retired with or without pay. Applications are accepted by the Navy League, which also endows a number of other scholarship programs. Contact: http://www.navyleague.org.

The American Legion publishes a 152-page book titled “Need a Lift?” with detailed information on scholarships for military families. For a copy of the book, send a check or money order for $3.95 to The American Legion, National Emblem Sales, P.O. Box 1050, Indianapolis, IN 46206-1050. For credit card orders, call (888) 453-4466; http://www.legion.org.

eStudentLoan.com

This site offers free news and guidance and can be used as a scholarship search tool.

SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid

Information for researching financial resources is available at http://www.finaid.org.

U.S. Education Department

In 2007, the department will provide more than $80 billion in financial aid to help students and families pay for education. Programs such as Free Application for Federal Student Aid benefit civilian and military students. Contact: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov, http://www.ed.gov, or http://www.studentaid.ed.gov.

Did You Know?

The Military Family Resource Center on the Military Homefront Web site, http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil, has information for military families with special medical or education needs.