November 10, 2025
Contact: Melissa Villarin
Office: 916-327-5365
Office E-mail: MVillarin@CCCCO.edu
The California Community Colleges helps nearly 20,000 Veterans convert service to college credits
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office is celebrating its student veterans this Veterans Day by acknowledging their service and transforming it into academic opportunity, putting them on a path to complete their degree faster. The system’s Veteran Sprint is a transformative effort to help veterans earn credit for their military experience. So far, more than 18,000 veterans have already been assisted, putting the Chancellor’s Office on a solid path – nearly 60% – toward its goal to support 30,000 veterans enrolled at its community colleges.
Currently, just 1 in 4 veterans believe they receive the college credit they deserve for military training, and more than 1 in 5 said they received no postsecondary credit at all. The Veteran Sprint aims to address this by utilizing Credit for Prior Learning (CPL), which validates students’ existing knowledge – gained through experience, service, and training – for college credit. CPL, a core action of the Chancellor’s Office strategic plan Vision 2030, has been shown to save students time and money. On average, they complete their studies 9-14 months faster and save between $1,500 and $10,200.
“One of the most powerful tools we can offer our veterans is Credit for Prior Learning. It reduces the stress of transition. It honors the technical skills our veterans already possess. And it eliminates the frustration of repeating coursework. We’re creating opportunities for our veterans to achieve their goals faster and more affordably,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian.
The Veteran Sprint is designed to collect and review information from a student veteran's Joint Services Transcript (JST), the official military transcript. Once the JST is processed, student veterans are typically offered a minimum of three courses for their basic military service, while most qualify for much more towards their degree or certificate. To make this collection process more efficient moving forward, the Chancellor’s Office is working with CCCApply, the system’s application portal, to allow veterans to consent during enrollment to have their JSTs automatically retrieved for review.
“CalVet commends the California Community Colleges on this momentous achievement. Collecting over 18,000 JSTs gives us invaluable insight into the educational backgrounds of our student veterans,” said Lindsey Sin, secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs. “This historic milestone not only strengthens the bridge from military service to higher education, but powerfully affirms the value, expertise, and leadership our veterans bring to California’s campuses and communities.
CPL has another added benefit; it can help preserve military education benefits. According to a recent economic impact study, 15 units of CPL could help veterans maximize those benefits and defer the use for future opportunities, such as earning a bachelor’s or master’s at a four-year university.
“As a proud veteran, I know first-hand that every veteran who walks through our doors carries valuable skills and knowledge earned through service to our country. This push ensures that knowledge translates into college credit, saving time, money, and preserving precious GI Bill benefits for continued education,” said Member Blas Villalobos, California Community Colleges Board of Governors.
More than 1.8 million former service members live in California, making it the largest veteran population of any state in the United States, according to the 2020 Census. And the California Community Colleges leads the nation by enrolling more military-affiliated students than any other higher education system—33,346 veterans in the 2023–24 academic year alone.
“Efforts like this remind us what’s possible when we honor the skills and service of our veterans. Credit for Prior Learning is a powerful tool to help them move forward with confidence and purpose. As a system, and here in Ventura County, we have important work ahead — but the urgency is clear. Our veterans deserve pathways that turn their experience into opportunity,” said Chancellor Rick MacLennan, Ventura Community College District and chair of the California Community Colleges Veterans Caucus.
The Chancellor’s Office CPL initiative is facilitated by the Mapping Articulated Pathways (MAP) Initiative, and the 2025 Veteran Sprint is made possible through a collaboration between the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, the Riverside Community College District, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, and the California Community Colleges Veterans Caucus.
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 116 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year. California community colleges provide career education and workforce training; guaranteed transfer to four-year universities; and degree and certificate pathways. As the state’s engine for social and economic mobility, the California Community Colleges supports the Vision 2030, a strategic plan designed to improve student success, our communities and our planet. For more information, please visit the California Community Colleges website or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
###
