The USNCC Pilot I is a series of two college courses offered through five participating colleges from January 2021 through June 2021. These courses and this pilot are designed to provide an opportunity for the USNCC to collect data to evaluate and assess program design, institutional partnerships, student outcomes and impacts for service readiness. The program focus areas were designated as follows, with the following participating colleges:
Student selection for participation in the Pilot I program was completed by each service (USN, USMC and USCG) in the fall of 2020, and resulted in approximately 560 students from the three services. USNCC has stood-up several working groups in conjunction with service leadership to establish foundational policies and effective administration of the USNCC and the programs offered. These policies, along with service policies, will identify the process for future enrollment and participation following the USNCC pilot phase. Student selection for Pilot II will begin Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, based on the degree program.
The pilot will be one course at a time, likely to be about 8-12 weeks in duration (similar to many online schools supporting Vol-Ed / TA). Instruction is designed in an asynchronous fashion, which does not require the student to be online at any certain point, but will have a required amount of interaction and participation throughout the week/course to support successful course completion. An expected weekly workload for a given course may be between 8-12 hours/week. Students’ course load will require participation in a similar fashion to online schools, allowing service members to complete courses during nights and weekends, not during the work day.
Following the completion of the designated two Pilot I courses, the USNCC will offer an additional four courses for those USNCC students who desire to continue with the USNCC and our participating colleges. Students will be required to apply and be accepted into the USNCC designated degree program in order to continue taking classes funded by the USNCC. These four courses will bridge the gap between Pilot I and Pilot II. Students who remain for courses three through four will have their Joint Service Transcripts (JST) and any prior college experience (via official college transcripts) evaluated by the participating college in order for the school to apply prior college credit or credit for prior learning towards the enrolled degree program.
The USNCC Pilot Program is separately funded from other service related educational opportunities. Pilot I participants did not need to use their Tuition Assistance (TA) or pay out of their own pocket to attend these pilot courses. The USNCC funded all tuition, mandatory course fees and digital course materials for these courses and fund application fees when applicable.