Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges

Western Kentucky University is a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium and the SOC Degree Network System.

Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges Consortium

Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC), established in 1972, is a consortium of national higher education associations and more than 1,700 institutional members. SOC Consortium institutional members subscribe to principles and criteria to ensure that quality academic programs are available to military students, their family members, civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Coast Guard, and veterans. A list of current SOC Consortium member institutions can be found on the SOC Website.

SOC Degree Network System

The SOC Degree Network System (DNS) consists of a subset of SOC Consortium member institutions selected by the military Services to deliver specific Associate and Bachelor’s degree programs to servicemembers and their families. Institutional members of the SOC DNS agree to special requirements and obligations that provide military students, their spouses and college-age children with opportunities to complete college degrees without suffering loss of academic credit due to changes of duty station.

SOC operates the 2- and 4-year Degree Network System for the Army (SOCAD), Navy (SOCNAV), Marine Corps (SOCMAR), and Coast Guard (SOCCOAST). Refer to the SOC Degree Network System-2 and -4 Handbooks to view Associate and Bachelor’s degree programs, location offerings, and college information. An electronic version of the Handbook is posted on the SOC Website, and on the SOCAD, SOCNAV, SOCMAR, and SOCCOAST homepages.