FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2006
Media Contact: Michael Corby
904.632.3310

Naval Station Great Lakes, Naval Air Station Pensacola award Florida Community College at Jacksonville $67M combined training contracts
$45M Great Lakes is largest ever for College; $22M Pensacola

The Department of Defense has awarded Florida Community College two contracts totaling $67 million over five years to provide education and training to thousands of sailors — about 45,000 enrollments annually — at Naval Station Great Lakes and Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Great Lakes contract is the College’s largest ever, at $44,945,156; the Pensacola contract comes in a close second at $22,216,341.

Naval Station Great Lakes is home to Naval Service Training Command near Chicago. It is Illinois’ largest military installation and the Navy’s largest training center. Naval Air Station Pensacola is known as the cradle of naval aviation, being the nation’s first air station and the only one until shortly before WWII. Today the Pensacola Naval Complex employs more than 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel.

Under the terms of the contract Florida Community College’s Military Education Institute (MEI) will provide personnel, supervision, management, equipment and materials to perform training and educational services for sailors. Students will receive college credit for some of their training, enabling them to work toward achieving an Associate in Arts degree or Associate in Science degrees in areas that compliment their military occupational specialties. Under the Navy’s new policies, achievement of college degrees will aid in eligibility for promotions.

“To be selected as the premier education provider for more than 200,000 sailors is a significant achievement for Florida Community College, as the Navy undertakes a ‘revolution in training,’” said FCCJ Open Campus President Carol Spalding. MEI operates under the College’s Open Campus.

Available concentration areas of study at Great Lakes include Advanced Electronics Career Field, Diesel Engine, Engineering Electrical Core, Functional Academic Skills Training, Gunner’s Mate “A,” Journeyman Instructor Training, Interior Communications and Personal Financial Management. Classes under the direction of FCCJ began Nov. 1

Students at NAS Pensacola will have access to courses in Personal Financial Management, along with 22 other courses including avionics (aviation electronics), mechanical, air traffic control and apprentice technical training.

An added benefit to the students is access to the College’s large Virtual College of online credit courses for degree completion, and the numerous articulation agreements Florida Community College holds with institutions awarding baccalaureate degrees. These arrangements will allow the students to seamlessly transfer their FCCJ credits and begin as juniors in another institution.

In addition to college credit, sailor/students may receive industry certifications, making them more valuable enlisted and later as civilian employees.

Florida Community College’s MEI serves the education needs of military, government, and public service employees and family members throughout the nation and globally. MEI provides credit and non-credit education and training access through distance learning, on-site and classroom environments in directed disciplines that foster lifelong learning and the issuance of college credit. MEI supports service members and their families as they seek to advance their degrees and careers.

The Military Education Institute (MEI) at Florida Community College has been providing quality college education to military personnel for more than 30 years. The majority of the MEI staff are veterans of the U.S. Armed Services.