EARNED Four years of service meets the bar for a bachelor's
The EARNED Act asks the military's own accredited schools to confer the degree at an honorable discharge. No added classes are required. Here is what accreditors ask of a bachelor's degree, and where service members already meet it.
Two paths, equal recognition. This takes nothing away from a college degree. A classroom and four years of service are different paths, and both deserve the same recognition when they're complete.
The example below uses the standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which accredits Marine Corps University. Other accreditors set similar requirements.
The hours
Federal rules define one semester credit as roughly 45 hours of student work: one hour of instruction plus two hours of outside work a week for about 15 weeks. A 120-credit bachelor's is about 5,400 hours. Four years of full-time duty, at a standard 40-hour week, is about 8,000 hours of supervised, documented training and work.
The same federal definition says internships, practica and other academic activities count when they involve an equivalent amount of work.
Side by side
| Requirement | What accreditors ask | How service meets it |
|---|---|---|
| Program length | At least 120 semester credit hours or the equivalentfor a bachelor's. | About 8,000 hours of full-time duty over four years, well past the roughly 5,400 hours behind 120 credits. |
| A coherent course of study | Programs must embody a coherent course of studyin a field appropriate to higher education. | Recruit training, then a formal occupational school, then supervised on-the-job progression, then leadership courses before promotion. Each step is sequenced, documented and graded. |
| The major | A defined field of study. | The service member's specialty. Faculty evaluators at the American Council on Education already review military training and occupations for college credit, recorded on the Joint Services Transcript. |
| General education | At least 30 semester hours or the equivalent, with at least one course in each of humanities/fine arts, social/behavioral sciences, and natural science/math. | Social and behavioral sciences: leading and training people, small-unit leadership courses, working across cultures. Natural science and math: technical training such as electronics, mechanics, navigation, logistics and field medicine. Humanities: military history, ethics and written communication to formal standards. |
| Proof of completion | Evidence that students achieved the program's outcomes. | An honorable discharge after four years. It certifies the member met the military's standards of conduct and performance, backed by qualifications, proficiency tests, evaluations and promotions in official records. |
| An accredited school | The degree must come from an accredited institution. | The military already runs accredited schools. Air University confers degrees through the Community College of the Air Force, and SACSCOC reaffirmed Marine Corps University's accreditation in December 2025. |
What the law would do
Direct the military's accredited schools to review each member's service record against these standards and confer a Bachelor of Arts in Defense of Freedom at an honorable discharge after four years, with a concentration in the member's specialty. No added classes. Members who want more coursework can still take it, and the GI Bill stays intact.
What it would take
- Congress authorizes the degree. Military schools grant degrees under authority Congress gives them.
- Federal review. The Education Department's advisory committee on accreditation (NACIQI) reviews new degrees at military schools, as it did for a new Air University master's degree in 2017.
- Accreditor approval for the school to add a bachelor's degree.
- Map each specialty once to the degree requirements, using evaluations already on the Joint Services Transcript.
- Confer at discharge from records the military already keeps, and accept claims from veterans who already served.
The cost: The expensive part already exists. The training, the evaluations and the transcripts are already paid for, and the Air Force's community college already uses military training records to award accredited degrees. This extends a working system instead of building a new one. Congress's budget office would score the exact cost once a bill is written.
Accreditors set the final rules, and some will push for added coursework. Their standards already allow the equivalent
of credit hours and general education. The EARNED Act asks Congress to direct the military's schools to use that standard for the service members who have already met it.
Sources
- SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation, Section 9 (program content, length and general education), as summarized by Middle Tennessee State University.
- Definition of a credit hour, 34 CFR 600.2.
- American Council on Education, Understanding the Joint Services Transcript and Military Guide FAQ.
- Training and Education Command, MCU accreditation affirmed through SACSCOC, December 2025.
- National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, Federal Register notice, May 2017.
- Air University, History of the Community College of the Air Force.
The 8,000-hour figure assumes a 40-hour week for 50 weeks a year. A nonpartisan citizen proposal started in Surprise, Arizona. Not affiliated with the Department of Defense or any branch of service.