1. a. Each public and independent institution of higher education, after taking into account and giving due consideration to the credit recommendation of the American Council on Education, shall accept and apply towards an undergraduate degree program appropriate credit for a student’s military experience, following an evaluation and determination by the institution that the credits are in alignment with appropriate courses and correspond to the degree being pursued at the institution. The institution may award a maximum of 30 credits for military experience towards an undergraduate degree to a student enrolled in the institution.

Each public and independent institution of higher education, after taking into account and giving due consideration to the credit recommendation of the American Council on Education, shall accept and apply towards a graduate degree program appropriate credit for a student’s military experience, following an evaluation and determination by the institution that the credits are in alignment with appropriate courses and correspond to the degree being pursued at the institution. The institution may award a maximum of 12 credits for military experience towards a graduate degree to a student enrolled in the institution.

The credit recommendation of the American Council on Education represents college-level equivalencies based on a review of workforce training, military training or occupations, and other sources of learning outside the college classroom.

b. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any public or independent institution of higher education to admit a student or to waive its admission standards and application procedures.

c. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a public or independent institution from accepting and applying towards a degree program more than 30 undergraduate degree credits, or 12 graduate degree credits, for a student’s military experience should the institution choose to take such action.

L.2019, c.327, s.1.