The internet came of age in 1996 and by 1998, the promise of the internet was starting to show fruition. Despite the 56K dialup modems and DSL being the high speed internet tool, colleges and universities were slow to integrate the internet into their marketing efforts. Also, during the Clinton era, there was ambivalence toward the military and Americans did not revere the military like they do today.
THE CHALLENGE
The transfer of military training credit into college credit was a major sticking point for veterans, mainly due to veterans not knowing which colleges accept military training credit and which courses counted toward a degree program. ACE, the American College of Education, would provide transitioning military members with a transcript, but veterans had no insight into which courses would transfer for credit. Because all transitioning members are older than traditional college students and they are transitioning from full time work into college, any unnecessary time spent retaking courses equates to an opportunity cost and lost income opportunities.
ENTER GI BILL EXPRESS
Terrence Thomas, our current CMO, had recently transitioned from active Naval service into a full time MBA program. Since he was an officer and held a bachelor’s degree, the ACE transcript did not personally apply to him, however, several enlisted members that served with him constantly complained about the lack of knowing about acceptance of prior military training for credit. This spurred an idea for a class project: What if there was a directory that veterans can review to learn about colleges that have favorable acceptance policies of prior military training.
So, Terrence and Erik Black, currently a foreign service officer and the Cultural Attache to the US Embassy in Prague, started GI Bill Express with the intent of helping veterans find colleges with favorable military credit & transfer policies.
ACTIVITIES
Within three months after launch, the site had attracted over 10,000 veterans, mainly through public relations outreach with all major military installations, organic search and rudimentary email outreach. The gentlemen received a favorable grade on the project and four months after launch; while both gentlemen were still full time graduate students, the company/site was acquired and folded into Military.com. Military.com, a Monster.com company, is the premier destination for the military community.
LEGACY
Military.com has over 2 million active users and serves as the bridge between the military community and civilian community. While at Military.com, Terrence also built and launched the Military Skills Translator [MOS Decoder] that helped veterans understand the civilian equivalent of their jobs.