Navy COOL Voucher Eligibility Tool

If you would like to have a credential considered for COOL or if you would like to recommend a change to COOL, please complete a COOL Contact Form.

The credentialing information included on COOL undergoes a rigorous analysis process. In addition to being relevant to a military occupation, credentials must also meet COOL standards. Credentials already on COOL are reviewed on an ongoing basis to determine whether they remain relevant and continue to meet the standards. More information about the process to match and analyze credentials is described in Selecting Credentials for COOL.

Through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), the GI Bill provides eligible Service members and veterans financial assistance with licensing and certification, as well as supplemental education and training. If your agency offers licensing or certification tests and you are interested in attaining approval so that Service members and veterans may receive reimbursement for exam fees, you must seek approval from the State Approving Agency for the State where the headquarters of your organization is located. If you represent a State or local licensing board, the approval requirements are minimal. If you represent a non-governmental organization, your test must be generally accepted within the industry, must have been in existence at least two years, and must meet other requirements. Use the links below for more information:

• Directory of State Approving Agencies
• GI Bill web site

The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy authorize use of appropriated funds to pay for license and certification exams for Navy and Naval Reserve service members pursuing occupational credentials. This action further strengthens the Navy Credentialing Program that benefits service members, providing them another significant opportunity to accelerate their professional development.

• Legislative authorization, National Defense Authorization Act FY 2006
• Dept. of Defense (DOD) revised authorization (16-Jul-09)
• Dept. of Defense (DOD) original authorization (13-Nov-08)
• Dept. of Navy (DON) authorization
• OPNAV Instruction

Credentialing agencies can do their part to help our deserving Service members and Veterans attain civilian credentials that maximize credit for their military training and experience and help demonstrate the transferability of the substantial skills they acquire in military service. Some of the key practices credentialing agencies might adopt include:

• Ensure Quality/Value. Service members and Veterans, like the general public, have a right to know that the credentials they pursue are of high quality and hold value to industry.  Credentialing agencies can help Service members and Veterans identify these types of credentials by having their credentials accredited by a third party, nationally recognized accrediting organization. COOL identifies those credentials that have been accredited by one or both of the following organizations. Follow the links to find out more about each agency’s accreditation process.
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accreditation
• National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) Accreditation
• Facilitate Payment of Credentials. The GI Bill will pay for credential exam fees up to $2,000 per test. Credentialing agencies should work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to get their credentials approved for payment through the GI Bill.
• Provide Maximum Credit for Military Training and Experience – Credentialing agencies should take steps to assess the equivalency of military training and experience and should explicitly recognize military training in credentialing requirements, when possible.
• Utilize existing assessments of military training and experience. The Army, Navy, and Air Force, have matched military occupations to civilian credentials and, for some credentials, conducted detailed gap analyses of these credentials. In addition, the American Council on Education (ACE) makes college credit recommendations for military training and experience. Some web sites that might be helpful include:
• U.S. Army's Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (Army COOL)
• U.S. Navy's Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (Navy COOL)
• U.S. Air Force’s Credentialing and Education Research Tool (CERT) 
• American Council on Education (ACE) Military Guide
• Use available Service documentation to assess individual Service members’ and Veterans’ unique qualifications –credentialing agencies can use standard forms of Service documentation to assess an individual’s military training and experience. More information on Service Transcripts and other forms of documentation can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Career One Stop web site.
• Accommodate Military’s Unique Needs – Credentialing agencies can make accommodations for such things as deployments and the geographical dispersion of Service members:
• Make accommodations for deployments – Service members who are deployed may have difficulty meeting recertification requirements (e.g., continuing education units) or the period for which their credential is valid may expire while they are deployed. Credentialing agencies can extend recertification requirements for deployed Service members.
• Ensure exams are widely available – Service members are often geographically dispersed and may not be able to take exams that are offered only periodically throughout the year. Credentialing agencies can consider using national testing companies to make their credentials widely available and can offer credential exams on demand.