VALOR Act

Greenfield Community College welcomes students with prior military experience. The College recognizes that much of the training and coursework undertaken by military personnel warrants review and potential transfer as academic credit. To that end, we have established the following guidelines.

Greenfield Community College will grant academic credit associated with degrees the college offers based on documentation of military occupation, training, experience and coursework.
Greenfield Community College awards credit based on documentation presented by the student veteran from the ACE Guide to the evaluation of educational experiences in the Armed Services, CLEP and/or DANTES Subject Standardized Tests as related to courses and programs provided through GCC.
Academic credits earned through the evaluation of military occupation, training, experience, and coursework are transferable into GCC and within the public higher education system in accordance with the MassTransfer agreement.
The Transfer Credit evaluator is the single point of contact for student veterans to contact for guidance on the VALOR Act Academic Credit evaluation Policy.
The Transfer Credit evaluator provides individualized, accurate, and complete guidance with regard to the VALOR Act and the transfer of military credits.

Credit by Examination

Students enrolled in a certificate or degree program who wish to earn credit by examination should request an application form and contact information from the Office of Enrollment Services or the Testing Center. A fee of $40 per credit is charged. Study guides for some examinations may be on reserve in the library.

Courses that are most commonly challenged for credit at GCC are:

BIO 126, Biology I (for waiver of pre-requisite only; credit not given)
CIS 140 Computer Applications and Concepts
FRE 101, Elementary French I
FRE 102, Elementary French II
MOM 110, Medical Terminology
SPA 101, Elementary Spanish I
SPA 102, Elementary Spanish II

Students cannot challenge a course for credit if they have failed the course at GCC, and challenge exams may only be taken one time.

Additional Alternative Sources of Credit

Credit will be granted for satisfactory scores on Advanced Placement (AP) examinations based on GCC’s policies.
Credit will be granted for satisfactory scores on College-Level examination Program (CLEP) examinations based on GCC’s policies.
Official score reports from the College Board are required in order to receive credit for AP and CLEP.
Credit will be granted for satisfactory scores on challenge or credit by examinations. See gcc.mass.edu/testing for more information.
Credit may be granted for formal courses or examinations offered by various organizations, including businesses, unions, government and military based on the recommendations of the American Council on education (ACE) as found in its national Guide to College Credit for Workforce Training, a resource of its National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) (see Valor Act Policy).*
Credit also may be granted for life experience (service learning, internships, learning from experience at work, volunteering in the community, job training, etc.).*
Members of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium adhere to the Consortium’s Academic Residency Requirements for service members at their institutions.
Academic credits earned through the evaluation of military occupation, training, experience and coursework are transferable within the Massachusetts public higher education system in accordance with the MassTransfer agreement.
Credit granted by one institution from alternative sources other than that included above may not transfer to another institution.

Enrollment Services

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