From New York to Haiti: A National CCRS Student Success Story

Here at the National CCRS office, we don’t always realize the effect that our evaluations of learning experiences have on students’ lives. Recently, however, we learned about Jose Abreu and wanted to share his success story as he continues his path toward improving his education and opportunities in life.

Jose Abreu has much experience in Criminal Justice as a police officer and detective in New York City and Florida and through his service in the U.S. Marine Corp. The Weston, Florida resident is a Desert Storm Veteran who currently holds an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a total of 18 years of experience in the field of Corrections, Law Enforcement, and Private Investigations.

Currently an International Law Enforcement Professional in Haiti, Jose supervises a unit, collects, collates, identifies and analyzes patterns and trends in crime in various regions in Haiti. To sum it all up, you do not want to get on his bad side! Of course this is only when he is on duty at work; Jose is a happily married man with five children at home.

Credit: Getty Images

Even though Jose has an impressive resume with much experience, he is finding it hard to obtain a higher paying job in his field. A contributing factor to this professional standstill is the fact that Jose does not have his Bachelor’s degree, and most of the positions of interest to him require one. So, Jose enrolled at Ashford University where he has already completed three classes. During the assessment to have his credits evaluated, the school noted that he had attended the New York City Police Department’s training academy, a National CCRS member organization since 1974! His advisor at Ashford University found the NYCPD course information on the NCCRS Online Course Credit Directory and Jose was granted 24 credits to apply towards his Bachelor’s degree!

Jose states:

“This translates into 8 classes and $9,400 that I do not have to spend, and this also saves me 40 weeks of school. With the credits I have from my prior colleges and the credits I received which were facilitated by the National CCRS, I plan to have my degree within the next year and ten months. A bachelor’s degree coupled with my experiences will allow me to obtain a decent or a high paying job which I will use for the betterment of my family.”

Jose started school in January 2012 and plans to graduate in October 2013 while maintaining a spot on Dean’s List throughout his schooling. Due to his academic accomplishments, after his graduation from Ashford University he plans to obtain a new job as an Investigator for the International Criminal Court in Hague, The Netherlands.

NCCRS applauds Jose’s accomplishments and is proud to partner with the New York City Police Department in extending the benefit of college credit recommendations to their employees and students. National CCRS is here to help students achieve their educational goals, one credit recommendation at a time. Send us your Student Success Story (S-Cubed) at nccrs@mail.nysed.gov!

Written by Simone Arrington, @NCCRS Marketing Intern, @SimoneArrington

NCCRS Update!

Welcome to the National CCRS newsletter blog! Check in for happenings in the world of nontraditional college-level learning.

First, who are we and what exactly is it that we do?

Since 1973, the National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS), formerly known as National PONSI, has been evaluating training and education programs offered outside of the traditional college classroom setting and translating them into college credit equivalencies.

Our mission: To increase access to higher education for working adults and other nontraditional students.

Over 1500 Cooperating Colleges and Universities across the nation will consider granting actual college credit based on our credit recommendations and in accordance with their own transfer policies.

National CCRS is a non-profit program supervised by the University of the State of New York Regents Research Fund and housed at the New York State Department of Education in Albany, NY.

We’ve ventured into the world of Open Education Resources!

A November 2012 visit to The Saylor Foundation resulted in the awarding of college credit recommendations for three courses!

+The Saylor Foundation is a free and open collection of college level online learning courses. The headquarters are located in Washington D.C., and did we mention that it’s FREE?! After a long day of analyzing and discussion, Saylor’s team of professors and evaluators successfully approved three courses for credit recommendations. There is a small final exam proctoring fee for students wishing to benefit from the credit recommendations.

Click here to find out which courses apply 

and visit www.saylor.org.

We visited the ultimate garden….in the winter?

The +New York Botanical Garden  has been studying, exhibiting, and conserving plants for 120 years. Located in the Bronx, NYBG has also been offering credit recommendations to their students since 1979, and they have recently renewed their membership in 2012 with the addition of their Horticultural Therapy Program. There are nine courses being offered for credit recommendation. Click here to find out more information.

Written by Simone Arrington, @NCCRS Marketing Intern, @SimoneArrington

For a complete list of member organizations and courses with college credit recommendations, feel free to visit our website http://www.nationalccrs.org/ccr/home.html.

Have a higher education or nontraditional story to share? The NCCRS blog would also like to extend an invitation to guest bloggers. Send your text to: sarringt@mail.nysed.gov for review.

Welcome!

Welcome to the National CCRS blog! Thank you for visiting and stay tuned for more posts.

-NCCRS Staff