The state Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday formalizing policies allowing service members to receive college credit for their prior military experience when attending Georgia’s technical colleges.
The technical college system already grants this type of credit, but Senate Bill 18 makes the policy official, said bill sponsor Sen. Ed Harbison, who called the bill a "big welcome home" for service members.
“This legislation embraces the thought that when our veterans return we are providing an opportunity for them to not miss a beat and get reconnected with civilian life post-deployment,” said Harbision, D-Columbus. “It shows that we intend to care for our veterans. It’s just the right thing to do.”
Harbison, a former Marine and Vietnam War veteran, previously sponsored similar legislation formalizing the policy for military members attending schools in Georgia’s public University System.
Georgia is home to about 776,00 veterans and 100,000 active-duty military personnel, including guardsmen and reservists, and ranks fifth in the nation for states with the most active-duty service members, according to information from the state department of veterans services and the military affairs division of the University System of Georgia.
The bill would cost the Technical College System of Georgia about $241,500 for fiscal 2016, including $115,000 to pay for a staff person to manage the program, $101,500 for a prior learning assessment contract to determine how military and occupational experiences apply to tech programs, and $25,000 for database and website updates, according to a fiscal note attached to the legislation.
SB 18, which passed the Senate with a 53-0 vote, now moves to the House for consideration.
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