Effective October 1 the Navy has closed all stateside Voluntary Education (VOLED) offices leaving only four remaining CONUS locations. Afloat services and OUTCONUS offices, including Hawaii will not be affected by the closing.
The four remaining stateside offices are Naval Station Norfolk, VA; Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL; Naval Base San Diego, CA; and Naval Base Kitsap, WA. Those VOLED offices are scheduled to close by the end of fiscal year 2017.
As reported in our April 2016 story, all sailors affected by this closing will have to use the Navy's Virtual Education Center (VEC) for services that were previously provided at stateside offices. The Navy has redesigned their Navy College website to make accessing the VEC and finding information much easier.
The Navy says qualified education counselors at the VEC will be able to provide all necessary information and education counseling services. Sailors will have access to VEC counselors via phone, text messaging, and web-chat along with the ability to schedule education counseling appointments online. VEC counselors are available from Monday through Friday, 0600-2100 Eastern Standard Time.
CLEP and DANTES
College Level Exam Program (CLEP) and the DANTES Subject Standardized Test (DSST) exams will continue to be administered at National Test Centers currently operated on Navy installations. See our CLEP or DANTES Credit By Examination pages for details and locations.
Foreign Language Testing
Foreign language testing, i.e., Defense Language Proficiency Testing and Defense Language Aptitude Battery, though not a core element of VOLED, will continue to be offered at the CONUS Navy College Offices which remain open through FY-17. Sailors in other locations may request foreign language testing with other services as necessary.
Tuition Assistance
For all courses with a start date on or after 1 January 2017, all tuition assistance requests should be processed via the Navy College website. See our Navy Tuition Assistance page for more details.
