VETERANS HONORED Utah State Legislature votes to require all state colleges to award credit for military service

Wading through the red tape at college can be nightmarish, especially for veterans seeking credit for military training. Though many are able to work with universities to receive the credit they need to graduate, there was no standard requirement for universities regarding these credits until now.
Starting May 13 — 60 days after the end of the 2013 state legislative session — HB254 will go into effect. The bill will require all state colleges and universities to award credit for military service and training to veterans. Those applying for this credit will meet with counselors, who will determine what credits to award for specific service.
The bill passed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously. Some legislators were even surprised to learn colleges weren’t previously required to offer credit to veterans.
Dave Buhler, commissioner of education, said the bill is a good step that will help veterans reintegrate. Although some colleges have already been awarding college credit, he said this bill will guarantee veterans can receive credit for their service.
“This will give us the added impetus to make sure that we are doing this in a uniform way,” Buhler said.
Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, sponsored the bill. He served as the House chairman of the Veterans Reintegration Task Force for the past year. The bill was drafted when the group — made up of both legislators and veterans — discovered college credits were a barrier many veterans had to get past upon returning to Utah.
“They will go serve their country, they’ll go overseas, they’ll take specialized training and when they come back and go to school that training is not recognized,” Ray said.
When that happens, veterans sometimes have no choice but to take classes in subjects they are already experts in.
“They’ve gotten experiences, and in a lot of instances, they didn’t have the ability to get credit for that,” he said. “They had to sit through classes that they probably knew [the material] better than the teachers.”
As the bill stands, veterans will not have to be tested to receive fundamental credit, but can apply for additional testing if they want to earn more credit than is originally awarded.
The bill had an unusually smooth journey through the Legislature, facing no opposition. It received one simple amendment — the original draft required that the State Board of Regents report to the Utah Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Education Interim Committee regarding awarded credit. The amended version included the Utah Colleges of Applied Technologies.
Bill drafters hope the inclusion of a school counselor in the process will help veterans stay on the path toward a degree, preventing them from taking unnecessary courses.
“The intent is that [the credit] could be towards a specific program or degree,” Buhler said.
Having passed both chambers, the enrolled bill awaits Gov. Gary Herbert’s signature.