Saskatchewan Polytechnic now allows ex-military personnel and those who serve in the military to apply their training and experiences to credits toward a post-secondary degree at their institutions.

Sask Polytech already allows prior training and most work credit to go towards a post-secondary education, so it made sense to also allow military training.

"We've had a long history of recognizing prior learning, going back at least twenty years we're really recognized as a national leader in this field but we haven't done a lot with military training and we were able to partner with BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) and they have mapped all the training done in the military and looked at what the learning outcomes are," explained the Director of Learner Pathways for Sask Poly, Barb Gustafson.

For example, training for leadership, accounting, human resource management can be assessed for credits for the business program, which makes this agreement very relative to Moose Jaw with 15 Wing nearby and our Sask Poly Campus having the majority of the business programs.

The agreement was signed with National Advanced Placement & Prior Learning, an organization designed to fast-track veterans through educational systems, and Gustafson said they've already been busy with phone calls.

"Even just since it was announced [...] we've already been fielding phone calls and obviously there are people out there who are very interested in this and I think it particularly appeals to those who are either coming to the end of their term of service or have chosen to leave the military."

This is the first time a post-secondary institution in our province had recognized military experience in its programs.