Education requirements, although clearly articulated will frequently require the experience and judgment of the evaluator. To promote consistency within the Department of Defense, the following guidelines apply for assessing the education requirements as they apply to:

Career Field Certification & 1102 Qualification Standards
Defense Acquisition Corps

Career Field Certification & 1102 Qualification Standards

• Credit hours or the degree requirement must be supported by (reflected on) a transcript from a regionally accredited academic institution.

• College credit hours will always refer to “semester” credit hours. Quarter credit hours must be converted to semester credit hours.

• ACE (American Council on Education) itself does not grant or award college credit for courses. They do however, recommend credit hours for many courses sponsored by DoD Service Schools and organizations to include the Defense Acquisition University, other government agencies, business and industry. These credit recommendations can not be used to meet positive education standards for career field certification or the qualification standards for service as an 1102 in DoD. To be acceptable, the ACE recommended credits must be matriculated (accepted) by a regionally accredited academic institution and appear on a (college or university) transcript.

• Business credit hours cover a wide variety of courses and no single list can be completely inclusive. The DAU Business Course Guide provides a listing of topical areas that should be favorably considered when evaluating business credit hours.

• Assessing mathematics related courses can pose similar challenges as the business related courses. The DAU guide for Assessing Mathematics – Business or Scientific provides a listing of types of math courses and how credit should be awarded.

• Wherever a degree is required and credit hours are specified, it is intended to mean two mutually exclusive requirements. In other words, the credit hour requirement could be resident in the degree, could be completely outside of the degree program or a combination of the two. The applicant meets the requirement if answer to the below, mutually exclusive, questions is YES:
  • “Does the applicant meet the stated degree requirements?”
  • “Does the applicant meet the stated semester credit hour requirements?”

• The 24 semester credit hour requirement for 1102s is also reflected in the certification standards for the contracting career field. The requirement lists a variety of areas of study. The requirement is for 24 semester credit hours among one or more of the areas of study. The 24 hours is not to be interpreted as 24 hours of concentrated study in any particular field within business.

Defense Acquisition Corps

• Title 10 U.S Code Section 1732 prescribes the minimum educational requirements for entry into the Defense Acquisition Corps.  They are:

1  A baccalaureate degree at an accredited educational institution authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees,

2  At least 24 semester credit hours (or the equivalent) of study from an accredited institution of higher education from among the following disciplines:

Or in lieu of number 2 above, at least 24 semester credit hours (or the equivalent) from an accredited institution of higher education in the person's career field and 12 semester credit hours (or the equivalent) from such an institution from among the disciplines listed in number 2 above.

• The guidelines provided for evaluating education standards for certification and the qualification requirements of an 1102 above can be applied to meeting the education requirements for membership in the Defense Acquisition Corps with the following exceptions:

• Defense acquisition workforce members who, as of 1 October 1991, had at least 10 years of experience in acquisition positions or in comparable positions in other government agencies or the private sector are exempt from meeting any of the above educational requirements.

• The semester credit hour requirement can be met with equivalent credit.  This is interpreted to mean that the ACE recommended credit hours an applicant receives from attending DAU courses or other appropriate courses that have been reviewed by ACE can be used to meet this requirement.  The DAU transcript or other appropriate documentation can be used as sufficient evidence.  The database of ACE Recommended Credit hours for DAU courses is accessible on the internet. 

• Additionally, credit recommended from successful completion of examinations administered by the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) may be substituted.  DANTES sponsors the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) and DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSSTs) through the college board and the Educational Testing Service (ETS).  Nine tests are available and a passing score on an examination qualifies for three (3) semester credit hours towards the above educational standards.  The passing scores do not have to be listed on a college transcript to be acceptable.