San Antonio College, in a joint agreement with the U.S. Navy, announced today that it is going to offer college credit to enlisted students pursuing a career in Medical Assisting or Dental Assisting.

According to the agreement, San Antonio College will award college credit to students training to become Hospitalmen or Dental Technicians in the U.S. Navy, or to enlisted students with sufficient on-the-job experience. These college credit hours will be applied toward the students' pursuit of an Associate of Applied Science Degree in either discipline.

During a noon signing ceremony on Tuesday, April 20, Navy and College officials made the agreement official.

President Dr. Robert Zeigler said, "I'm very pleased to see that San Antonio College and the Navy have joined ranks again to offer sailors the opportunity to earn a degree while pursuing a career in these vital fields."

Since 1999, San Antonio College and the U.S. Navy have established four similar agreements, which allow enlisted students studying for careers in Criminal Justice, Electronics, Foreign Language, or Music, the opportunity to transfer their experience into college credit.

Ken Kuwamura, U.S. Navy Education Services Specialist, said these joint agreements help the Navy find sailors that are better qualified for holding challenging positions.

"When they come to us, they're better prepared than the average person," he said. "The other thing too is that we save money."

For each enlisted sailor attending San Antonio College as part of one of these programs, "that's a seat they free up in one of our classes," he said.

Students must satisfy several requirements to be eligible for either the Medical or Dental Assisting program, including meeting both the Navy's and SAC's admission requirements, and completing at least 25 percent of total credit hours toward an AAS Degree at SAC before entering Navy training.

For more information about the agreement, call Dean Betty Larson, Professional & Technical Division, of San Antonio College at 733-2440, or Ken Kuwamura of the U.S. Navy at 295-9680.