Bakersfield College does not acknowledge the education veterans have received in the military, according to disgruntled BC student Ralph Fairbanks.
A current BC student, Fairbanks, a business management major, due to graduate from BC this spring and bound for CSUB, says that his military education credits did not transfer to BC the way they should have.
Fairbanks took several science classes including anatomy and physiology with a lab during his April 1990-Nov. 25, 1997 service as a hospital corpsman in the Navy and Marines.
The science courses that he took during his military service are only acknowledged as “elective” courses by BC and not as science courses, Fairbanks said.
He says that he has noted that BC will accept up to 12 units of military credits as specified in the 2008-2009 catalogue.
Fairbanks said that the catalogue does not say that BC will acknowledge the military credit as only elective credit. Fairbanks said that he tried to talk to a representative of the American Council on Education, and the representative was not very helpful.
Fairbanks is also upset by an incident that occurred during the spring semester of 2007 when his Veterans’ 1905 form was misplaced or lost, he claims.
This form, says Fairbanks, pays for his schooling. Because of the mishap, Fairbanks was dropped from his classes for nonpayment.
According to Sue Vaughn, director of admissions and records, the colleges that BC can give credit for must be accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges as well as being recognized by the American Council on Education. The colleges and schools must also be present on official lists acknowledged as regionally accredited schools and colleges.
Some schools tend to be less academic and more vocational than others, and so credit given for courses at these schools is not a certainty.
“The military is more vocational than academic,” said Vaughn.
Vaughn said BC gives health and physical education credits for basic military training.