CPL in Real Time: Palomar College Offers Unique Pathway to Credit for Marine Corps Professional Military Education

Candace Rose fills several roles at Palomar College, a CAEL institutional member. She serves as the college’s credit for prior learning coordinator, is the faculty coordinator for its military leadership program, and is also an associate professor of cinema. Insight from her own experiences and her empathy for others have lent her a full-circle perspective on how college can change lives--her own as well as those of the thousands of Marines that she has supported on and off campus. The confluence of those experiences was the catalyst for the college’s Military Leadership Program, launched in 2020. Since then, its growth has surprised even its most ardent supporters.The need for the program became evident to Rose when she began teaching cinema classes at Camp Pendleton’s Joint Education Center, where Marines take professional military education (PME) classes, required for promotion. As a first-generation college graduate from a military family, Rose relished the opportunity to interact with active-duty Marines balancing full-time military responsibilities with the demands of being a student. “My dad was military and never had the opportunities to go to college,” said Rose.

“She would ask her students who were Marines, ‘How can we continue to help you? How can we continue to serve you? You do so much for our country,’” said Yvonne Hardy, a former Marine master sergeant who is now a Military Leadership Program professor. Following her 20-year military career, Hardy worked as a master faculty advisor at Camp Pendleton’s Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academy, where she met Rose.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

A recurring concern Rose heard in the Marines’ responses was that, unlike the other armed services, there was no PME pathway to college credit. It was a disadvantage she was determined to solve. It would take a lot of resolve--her own and that of the allies she enlisted in Palomar College and Marine Corps University--to do so.

Rose’s background in production management and project coordination for the film industry, roles that require one to “make the impossible happen with no budget, no time,” prepared her for the task, she said. Indeed, the process would be complex and labor intensive. But it enjoyed strong support from decision makers.

The Marine Corps had recently made curriculum changes to support the development of students as both Marines and well-rounded individuals, said Hardy. That ensured the demanding work of aligning PME and Palomar College classes could establish CPL crosswalks to college credit.

A recent CAEL report on CPL and veterans also helped her make the case for the program, said Rose. “CAEL does a nice job of not making them so dense. It’s information that I can share.”

“I got all the key players to sit down at the table,” she said. They included the college’s president, vice president, and Career Technical Education (CTE) dean, who oversees apprenticeships, and a Marine colonel. “We asked what he wanted for his Marines. And he said, ‘I would like my enlisted Marines to get college credit for this training and education they get in the Marine Corps.’ When we left that meeting, everybody was excited.”

Three Credentials for the Price of None

Embedding apprenticeships in the pathway to a degree or certificate was also critical to the program’s success. The program qualified for California Apprenticeship Initiative funding, which was crucial to getting it off the ground, said Rose. Along with receiving 12 college credits for their PME classes, active-duty Marines can complete a six-unit work experience class to earn Palomar College’s Apprenticeship Program Certificate of Achievement. That not only ups their credits to 18 but qualifies them for two apprenticeship credentials as well: the Operations & Leadership Specialist from the U.S. Department of Labor and General & Operations Manager through the state of California.

Active-duty Marines who are enrolled in Sergeants School at either Camp Pendleton or Twentynine Palms can complete the Military Leadership Program at no cost to them. Upon completion, they can seamlessly apply the credits to Palomar College’s associate degree in military leadership. In turn, articulation agreements between the college and two universities, National and Arizona State, allow students to make the degree the foundation of an organizational leadership bachelor’s degree. Palomar is exploring additional transfer partners.

An Active Duty Focus That Also Supports Veterans

The Military Leadership Program provides the only “real time” route to college credit for Marines enrolled in PME classes. Its active-duty focus makes it unique, as programs linking college credit to military education and training traditionally focus on veterans transitioning to civilian careers. “I was amazed at how all of the workshops I went to, nobody talked about active duty,” said Rose of a veterans symposium she attended recently.

“Promotion is very competitive in the Marine Corps,” said Hardy. “Any type of certification or any type of education that Marines have other than their primary job helps them. Whatever they do to stand out is going to help them while they’re in the Marine Corps. And then the program gives them certifications that will help them in transitioning out of the service as well.”

The Military Leadership Program benefits active-duty Marines and veterans alike thanks to its tandem of “dual enrollment” and CPL approaches. For active duty PME students, “we go about twice a month to the base and give them an enrollment brief,” said Hardy. “When they complete that PME, we have an instructor at that location verifying they completed and they’re eligible for the program. The students enroll, that instructor submits their grades, and that’s how they get credit.”

Veterans or active-duty Marines who have already completed their PME classes can still receive the Palomar Certificate of Achievement in Military Leadership via a traditional CPL route. “We verify that they completed their PME; they send us either a joint service transcript or a PME completion certificate,” said Hardy. “Through portfolio classes, we are able to grant them the 12 credits.”

Thanks to CPL, veteran students have their own pathway through the Military Leadership Program. They can earn 12 units by submitting a PME transcript and complete a different work experience class at the college. Earning the six additional credits would represent their only cost (just $46 per credit at California community colleges). They could then enter the same associate and bachelor’s degree pathways as those who complete the program concurrently with their PME classes.

1,800+ Completers and Growing

Since its launch, more than 1,800 active-duty Marines have earned the Palomar College Certificate of Achievement in Military Leadership. More than 80% of these graduates have gone on to earn the State of California Department of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) General Operations Manager and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Operations Leadership Specialist apprenticeship certifications. Nearly 800 Marines have used CPL to earn 12 of the 18 program credits from their prior PME.

The program’s strong growth has challenged staffing capacity, said Rose, even though promotion has largely been limited to word-of-mouth. The word has spread far and wide. “I manage our program email, and I probably get about five or six emails a week from Marines around the world saying, ‘I heard about this program. How can I join? I want to get the free certificates, and I want to get the credits, and I want to start my associate degree,’” said Hardy.

Rose and Hardy attribute that success not only to the pressing need the program fills, but also to its accessibility and credibility, qualities upheld by the program’s built-by-and-for-the-Marines ethos. “We didn’t join the military to go to college--a lot of Marines think that way,” said Hardy. “It helps that all of our instructors are active-duty or retired Marines. We can speak to them, and say, ‘We are here with you. We speak your language , we understand your culture, your busy life.’

"We walk them through the entire process. That gives them the confidence to move on and say, ‘Maybe I will try an English class.’ And then once they pass that, they’re like, ‘Okay, well, this isn’t too bad. Let me continue on with my associate degree.’ And so, we’re with them the whole entire way.”

For example, Palomar College hosts monthly education orientation workshops for Marines. Although apprenticeship and other state funding cover program costs, the class walks students through tuition assistance options that can help them continue toward a degree. It also connects them to counselors.

Future Plans

Individual enrollment isn’t the only way Palomar College is scaling its impact on Marines’ educational attainment. It is also planning growth at the program level. “The Marine Corps came to us and asked if we would be willing to partner on another apprenticeship program,” said Rose.

The new program seeks to crosswalk college credit to Marine Corps programs that prepare Marines in instruction as their Military Occupational Specialty. “It will also be an 18-unit certificate of achievement, and it is the exact same model that we’re doing with the military leadership,” Rose said. She hopes to launch the program in fall of 2026.

It will again entail a lot of work, from the articulation process to the administrative burdens of securing state apprenticeship certification and funding. For Rose, the results are more than worth it. “It’s exciting. It’s one of those wonderful projects that when I someday retire from teaching, I can look back and say, ‘this was something I got to be a part of.’ I’m very happy and proud of this program.”

“It’s an awesome feeling knowing that we’re helping Marines get their education,” agreed Hardy. “I always tell them in our briefs, ‘We didn’t get this growing up in the Marine Corps. So, take advantage.’”

When they do, Rose usually sheds a few tears, she happily admits. “Every time I go to a briefing, and we do enrollments, I get a little choked up, especially when they come up to you and they’re like, ‘Ma’am, am I a college student now?’ Because for many of our enlisted military, going to the military was instead of college.”

It’s a thought that brings her back to her own graduation as an adult learner, attended by her father, a veteran who did have to make that either-or choice. “I remember when I got my associate degree as a first-generation single mom with two kids, and my dad cried through the entire ceremony,” she said. "It goes in the family that we cry a lot at graduations.”

Thanks to the Military Leadership Program, college credentials are a tradition that can run in many more military families. She hopes the trend continues well beyond Palomar College. “I would love if we could be a model for other colleges all across the country, especially where there are large populations of military,” she said. “If this can bring some awareness and people want to see our model, we are happy to share how we did this.”