San Diego and Imperial Counties Community Colleges Association

On-Base College Programs
For many years, the district has provided on-base courses and student support services at Naval Base San Diego,
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. On-base services include student
advising, counseling, assistance with application processing and course enrollment, evaluation, assessment testing, and
guidance with transfer opportunities. The services are available to veterans, active duty military, and military spouses
and dependents seeking information or desiring to enroll in courses and programs offered on-base, online or on any one
of the three campuses of the San Diego Community College District. Currently, about 75 classes are scheduled directly
on-base.
Contract Military Education Program
Since 1977, the District’s Military Education Program has
been providing highly specialized contract instruction to
military service members. During the past 34 years, the
program has significantly expanded from a single location
in San Diego to providing training at 24 military
installations in 15 states. In addition, the program has
provided mobile training teams to locations outside the
continental United States, including Hawaii, Japan, and
Guam. The current program serves more than 145,000
Navy, Army, and Marine Corps personnel each year.
Areas of expertise include Naval engineering programs,
instructor training, culinary arts, electricity and electronics,
communication systems and personal financial management. In addition, the program has provided high-risk training in
the areas of firefighting and Naval security forces with a stellar safety record.
Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC)
The colleges are members of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium. As members, the colleges
provide educational assistance to active duty service members and agree to accept credit for educational experiences
during military service as recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE). In addition, the colleges
accept credit from other non-traditional sources such as DANTES and CLEP examinations. The district is committed
to military personnel who may choose to participate in the SOCNAV/SOCMAR program networks through the
colleges. SOCNAV/SOCMAR was established to better serve highly mobile service members and their families.
Veterans Affairs Services
The Veterans Affairs offices at the colleges provide important services
for veterans and their dependents, including certification for educational
benefits and assistance with other support services on campus. The
colleges certify more than 4,000 veterans and dependents for
educational benefits each year. The colleges also have active veteran
clubs and sponsor various activities such as student success workshops,
lectures, resource fairs and many other activities to promote campus life
for veterans and their families.
Student Achievement
Active duty military and veteran students, along with their dependents have strong academic achievement across all
metrics. Retention rates and successful course completion are higher than the general student population. In addition,
about 3,500 service members and their dependents earned degrees, certificates of achievement or transferred to fouryear
institutions between 2007 and 2010.
Student Services – April 2011
2012 INFORMATION BOOKLET 25