Key takeaway: The degree fields that overlap most with military service are the ones the military already trains for. Occupational training, professional military education, and an active clearance are recognized assets in a defined set of civilian fields, and the degree is the credential those fields hire on. This page maps twenty degree fields to the military roles that feed them, using Bureau of Labor Statistics wage and projection data, and lists schools that report both credit for military training and a dedicated military point of contact: 2,001 of the 2,817 institutions in our directory with fully online programs (IPEDS IC 2024).
Two variables separate these fields from one another: how much evaluated military coursework a school applies toward the degree, and how directly employers in the field read military service as relevant experience. Both variables cluster by type of work, so the fields below are grouped by the kind of military work that leads into them.
Schools to Compare
These accredited institutions report credit for military training and a dedicated veteran and military point of contact, with at least one program completable entirely online (IPEDS IC 2024). Ranked by BOC Score within that group.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
- Graduation rate 30%
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
- Average net price (lower is better) 20%
- Retention rate 15%
- Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Acceptance rate
11%
Graduation rate
93%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$92,446
Avg net price
$13,481/yr
TuitionIn‑state$16,347
Out‑of‑state$50,547
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 127
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
89%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$71,588
Avg net price
$6,541/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 172
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
94%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$83,648
Avg net price
$13,138/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 206
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
91%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$72,200
Avg net price
$11,655/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 117
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
86%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$81,054
Avg net price
$14,355/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 95%
- Programs offered: 177
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
85%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$78,466
Avg net price
$14,091/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 95%
- Programs offered: 234
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
87%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$90,768
Avg net price
$16,665/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 95%
- Programs offered: 84
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
85%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$82,860
Avg net price
$15,678/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 96%
- Programs offered: 150
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
94%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$87,555
Avg net price
$18,809/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 164
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
88%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$68,726
Avg net price
$13,936/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 94%
- Programs offered: 241
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
How military training becomes college credit
Most military occupational training and much professional military education carries American Council on Education credit recommendations, and those recommendations arrive on your Joint Services Transcript. A registrar reads that transcript and applies credit where it maps to a specific curriculum. In practice, technical schools and long occupational courses tend to produce the most usable credit, leadership and PME courses often land as electives, and credit toward upper-division major requirements is the hardest to get. That pattern is why a field where your training maps to the major, not just to electives, shortens the degree the most. See online colleges with credit for military training for the single-filter list, and the military-friendly online colleges hub for the four-service comparison.
Wage figures below are median annual wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS. Growth is projected employment change from BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34. Median means half the workers in the occupation earn more and half earn less. Actual pay varies by employer, location, and experience.
Cyber, IT, and data
Who feeds these fields. Signals and communications, cyber operations and network defense, intelligence analysis, electronic warfare, avionics and radar maintenance, and anyone who held a clearance while touching classified networks. This is the cluster where a clearance is worth the most, because holding one is a hiring requirement for a large share of defense-contractor roles and cannot be self-issued.
What the credit usually covers. Long technical pipelines often transfer as programming, networking, and systems fundamentals. Industry certifications earned in service can bring additional credit at institutions that award credit for certifications, a policy that is separate from Joint Services Transcript evaluation and is set school by school.
- Cybersecurity leads to information security analyst work, a median $129,180 with 28.5% projected growth and about 16,000 annual openings, and to computer and information systems manager roles at $175,140.
- Information technology covers the operations side, including computer network architects at $134,050 and software developers at $135,980 with 15.8% growth.
- Computer science is the deeper build path: software developers at $135,980 and database architects at $139,500.
- Data analytics suits intelligence analysts directly. Data scientists earn a median $120,230 with 33.5% projected growth, the fastest in this cluster, and operations research analysts earn $88,940 with 21.5% growth.
Beyond the degree: most of these roles need no license, but clearance-required positions depend on a sponsor and an active investigation, and some employers expect a current industry certification at hire.
Security, law enforcement, and emergency response
Who feeds these fields. Military police, masters-at-arms, security forces, counterintelligence, EOD, firefighting, CBRN, and combat arms leaders with incident-command experience.
What the credit usually covers. Law enforcement and investigation coursework transfers reasonably well into criminal justice and homeland security majors. Incident command and emergency response training maps into emergency management. Credit in this cluster lands as general education and lower-division coursework more often than as upper-division major credit.
- Homeland security feeds detectives and criminal investigators at $93,790 and emergency management directors at $93,330.
- Criminal justice is the broadest entry, covering police and sheriff’s patrol officer work at $76,210 and, with graduate study, paths toward the legal field where lawyers earn $159,670.
- Emergency management fits incident-command backgrounds. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers earn $93,530; firefighters earn $59,280.
- Security management is the corporate version of force protection: first-line supervisors of protective service workers at $76,400 and facilities managers at $106,660. Information security analysts at $129,180 sit on the technical edge of the same field.
- Occupational safety suits safety NCOs and ground-safety officers. Occupational health and safety specialists earn $90,150 with 12.5% growth, and health and safety engineers earn $115,160.
Beyond the degree: sworn law enforcement requires academy training and state certification regardless of your degree, federal investigative roles require their own hiring process and background investigation, and practicing law requires a law degree and bar admission. A safety career usually expects a professional certification on top of the degree.
Logistics, aviation, and technical operations
Who feeds these fields. Supply and logistics specialists, transportation and motor-transport operators, maintenance controllers, aircraft maintainers, air traffic controllers, loadmasters, and engineering or Seabee ratings.
What the credit usually covers. Supply, transportation, and maintenance-management training maps well into supply chain and operations coursework. Aviation maintenance and controller training is among the most directly transferable in the military. Engineering programs apply the strictest rules in this group, with math and science prerequisites that stand regardless of transcript credit.
- Supply chain management leads to purchasing managers at $148,080 and to transportation, storage, and distribution managers at $107,230. Operations research analysts earn $88,940 with 21.5% growth.
- Project management formalizes what a maintenance or operations chief already does. Project management specialists earn $102,320 with about 78,200 annual openings, and construction managers earn $114,990.
- Aviation management covers the business and operations side of flight. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers earn $232,140. Air traffic controllers earn $148,080 and commercial pilots earn $123,220.
- Electrical engineering fits avionics, radar, and electronics maintainers who want the design side. Electronics engineers earn $130,220. Computer hardware engineers earn $161,740 and architectural and engineering managers earn $171,270.
Beyond the degree: pilots need FAA certificates and rated flight hours that a degree does not provide, controllers hire through the FAA’s own process with age limits, and engineering roles that stamp designs require professional licensure.
Leadership, business, and people
Who feeds these fields. Senior NCOs, first sergeants, platoon and company commanders, personnel and human-resources specialists, recruiters, and anyone who ran a budget, a training plan, or a shop.
What the credit usually covers. Professional military education and leadership schools usually transfer as electives or as management-course equivalents, which is real credit but rarely fills a major. Personnel and administrative training maps into human resources coursework more directly.
- Business administration is the general-purpose degree here, feeding financial managers at $166,570 with 14.8% growth. It also feeds human resources managers at $149,280 and administrative services managers at $114,130.
- An MBA is the post-service graduate step for people already leading. General and operations managers earn $105,770 and post about 308,700 annual openings, the largest number in this data set; marketing managers earn $166,790.
- Organizational leadership is closest to what senior enlisted leaders actually did, feeding training and development managers at $133,000 and general and operations managers at $105,770.
- Human resources fits personnel and admin backgrounds. Human resources specialists earn $75,940 across about 81,800 annual openings, and human resources managers earn $149,280.
Beyond the degree: none of these roles require a license, though human resources and project roles commonly list a professional certification among their requirements, and many MBA programs weight prior management experience in admissions.
Public service and health
Who feeds these fields. Combat medics, corpsmen, medical logistics and health-services administration specialists, public health technicians, civil affairs, and anyone who worked inside a command staff or a government agency.
What the credit usually covers. Medic and corpsman training carries substantial credit recommendations, and some nursing programs have bridge tracks built for it, but licensure rules still control the path. Administrative and staff work transfers into public administration coursework as general credit.
- Healthcare administration is the non-clinical route. Medical and health services managers earn $123,860 with 23.2% projected growth and about 62,100 annual openings.
- Nursing is the clinical route and the strictest. Nurse practitioners earn $132,300 with 40.1% projected growth, the highest here, and nurse anesthetists earn $236,590.
- Public administration fits civil affairs and staff experience, feeding management analysts at $101,860 and general and operations managers at $105,770.
Beyond the degree: nursing requires a program with the right programmatic accreditation, in-person clinical placements, and state licensure through the NCLEX; no online program removes those steps. Federal civil service hiring runs on its own announcements and qualification standards.
Quick Answers
Which online degree is best for a veteran?
There is no single answer in the data. The transfer patterns run by background: technical and intelligence backgrounds transfer furthest into cyber, IT, and data fields; security and response backgrounds into criminal justice, homeland security, and emergency management; supply and maintenance backgrounds into supply chain and project management; leadership backgrounds into business and organizational leadership.
Does military experience count as college credit?
Often, through American Council on Education recommendations carried on the Joint Services Transcript. How much applies depends on the institution and the specific degree, and the written credit evaluation that settles it is issued by the school’s registrar.
Which of these careers need more than a degree?
Sworn law enforcement, nursing, engineering that requires licensure, piloting, and air traffic control all have certification, licensing, or agency hiring requirements that a degree alone does not satisfy. Many defense and cyber jobs also require an active clearance sponsored by an employer.
They are national medians for the occupation, not starting pay and not a promise. Pay varies by employer, location, and experience, and a degree does not guarantee employment in the field.
Can I start one of these degrees while still serving?
Many servicemembers do. The course formats and enrollment policies involved are described on can you go to college while in the military.
More in this section
Benefit eligibility is determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and your service’s education office. Nothing on this page guarantees education benefits, credit transfer, admission, or a particular cost. Confirm every detail with the school’s military or veteran services office before you enroll.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) for median annual wages and Employment Projections (2024-34) for projected change and annual openings; U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (IC 2024) for the military service indicators and distance education flag.
