It’s been said a thousand times: education is the key to opportunity. This adage is perhaps more true today than ever before.
Education provides the cornerstone for economic prosperity. It builds the work force that propels our nation’s communities forward. And it is the one variable that can substantially impact personal opportunity gains — for better or for worse.
Today’s families, military and otherwise, are understandably focused on education, from preschool on up. Beyond the basics, colleges and universities offering continuing and higher education opportunities are another key component to enhancing and furthering one’s educational goals.
For any family, access to institutions of higher learning translates into far more than mere classes.
Continuing education opportunities might lead to that degree that will boost a career upward. They could mean the difference between keeping up with various changing industry standards or losing ground in our rapidly evolving technological culture. They could assist with a transition in a career later in life. On a more leisurely note, continuing education courses could afford the occasion to tap into new or never-before-chased interests, like learning a new language.
That’s the beauty of continuing education — there is no shortage of ways that it can help advance personal and professional goals.
That said, the more colleges, universities, vocational schools and junior colleges a community has, subsequently the more opportunities it offers its residents to pursue lifelong learning.
For service members associated with Fort Riley, the nearby community of Manhattan, Kan., offers a rare opportunity to enjoy big city educational amenities in a small town setting.
While the “Little Apple,” as it’s commonly termed, houses a population of only about 45,000 people, the city boasts a Big 12 resident, Kansas State University. About 23,000 traditional and non-traditional students ebb and flow annually through Manhattan during the collegiate school year.
Kansas State has developed a strategic partnership with its military neighbor, and military families who reside in Manhattan and other nearby communities are encouraged to take advantage of the University’s resources. Manhattan has consistently proven to be an extremely supportive civilian community to the military families who live there or are stationed nearby.
For military families in particular, a community’s academic resources equate to an advantageous accessory in the overall quality of life picture.
“Continuing education opportunities enable military families to pursue their educational and professional growth goals at the same time they are meeting military obligations,” said David Stewart, assistant dean in the Division of Continuing Education for Kansas State. “They can also foster some desirable interaction between military and non-military students, which benefits both. Continuing education at Kansas State features seven bachelor’s degree completion and 15 master’s degree programs, all offered through state-of-the-art distance education technology. So military families are able to complete degrees at Kansas State, even if their location changes.”
Like most major universities, Kansas State delivers education in a variety of ways to meet individual needs. By taking classes on campus, prospective students have access to more than 200 undergraduate majors and more than 100 master’s, doctoral and certificate programs.
It is even possible to mix and match on-campus, evening and online courses to create a program that works for a specific set of needs.
“Good education resources make a major contribution to the health and vitality of a community,” Stewart said. “They foster personal growth as citizens pursue education and professional goals. Personal and professional growth, in turn, fosters economic growth in the community. Rapid and ongoing changes in the knowledge base in all fields make it essential to have access to continuing education resources that will enable people to ‘keep up’ in their professions.”
A Learning Journey
For Dwain Bauer, who served four years in active military and 26 years in the National Guard, continuing education options have been instrumental in his pursuit of career goals and transitions in employment.
“After four years I left active duty Army and joined an Army National Guard unit in Grand Island, Neb.,” Bauer said. “I attended Central Community College in Hastings, Neb., from 1982 to 1985 and worked on a drafting degree. It was in both the architectural and mechanical trades. I was a draftsman in the Army and thought that I would continue with that in the private sector.”
More recently, after a one-year deployment in Kuwait, Bauer returned to the Kansas City area, where he now resides with his family, and embarked upon a new educational path.
Currently employed as a government contractor for Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Bauer began to examine his college choices in the Kansas City metro.
“I had considered only two schools when I returned from Kuwait in April 2004: the University of Phoenix and the DeVry Institute,” he said. “I was on a short timeline so my net was not cast very wide.”
Ultimately, the University of Phoenix was sold to him in such a way that it sounded like the better deal overall.
“One of those selling points was its location,” Bauer said. “I was told that I would be attending that campus in the Northland (North Kansas City) near where I live, but after I registered, that changed and I have attended classes in Lenexa, Kan., for the past two years.”
In June 2006, Bauer celebrated his graduation from the University of Phoenix with a bachelor’s degree in information technology.
“I am contemplating the idea of continuing on with a master’s degree, but I believe my family needs a break from this more than I do,” Bauer said. “After a one-year deployment and two years of school, my family and I have not seen much of each other.”
Educational Resources Becoming More Flexible
Bauer’s situation exemplifies why choice and flexibility are paramount to military service members and their families when it comes to continuing education.
These days, thanks to innovative new technology, distance learning is changing the face of traditional continuing education programs.
This is good news for military families who must weave their continuing education pursuits between deployment absences, family childcare issues, atypical working hours, field training and financial challenges.
Luckily, there are more learning options today, as well as blossoming partnerships between all types of schools as they strive to offer the most efficient ways to deliver educational resources.
“The users of distance education expect to access educational resources when and where they need it,” Kansas State’s Stewart said. “They will ‘shop around’ to put their programs together in the most efficient way. So, traditional and distance programs need to be able to accommodate those needs.”
In fact, Kansas State has also partnered with Barton County Community College, located roughly 150 miles away in Great Bend, Kan.
Having worked with military students for more than 60 years, Kansas State’s partnership with Barton County offers “Plus 2” programs that allow military students to earn both an associate’s degree from Barton and a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State.
In addition, Kansas State is a member of SOCAD, the Service Members Opportunity Colleges (SOC) degree program for the Army.
This means that military students who complete 15 hours with Kansas State can finish an associate’s degree anywhere the student goes in the world.
Kansas State, a big name school in a decidedly military-friendly state, offers a shining example of how a civilian school can offer continuing education resources for military service members and their families — off post and on post.
And it’s easy to see that, thanks to distance learning and a commitment to make education resources available beyond traditional methods, even a smaller community like Manhattan can offer plenty of educational advantages and resources to military families in Kansas.
“In our case, distance learning is leading to an increasing number of partnerships with community colleges and others, as we work together to meet the needs of students,” Stewart said. “It has also led to consortium arrangements with other universities where each university provides courses in their areas of strength. When those are combined into one degree program, we end up with a shared program that is very high quality.”
Education Vital to the Future
The bottom line remains that military families, like any family, desire educational opportunities as much as anyone.
Communities surrounding military installations provide an invaluable asset to their service-member residents and their families when they offer quality continuing education opportunities.
This opens the door for service members to increase their training in a given field or transition to a new career. Through continuing education, spouses can enhance their own skills and hence, their employability.
As for the children of military families, there is little doubt that their educational attainment will play a major role in their future success.
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) put education, in general, succinctly in perspective when he noted, “A good education is the key to national economic growth, as well as personal opportunity, and it is what sets America apart from other nations.”
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