Pictured, above: Sara Fier (left), vice president of academic and student affairs at Alexandria Community and Technical College, and Dr. Marah Jacobson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at BSU, signed a series of transfer agreements earlier this year.

Through degree-completion partnerships and the growing Global Military Learning Network, active-duty and veteran students have clearer, more-affordable opportunities to complete bachelor’s degrees from Bemidji State University.

These programs allow military students to begin their education with a certificate and, as their schedule allows, steadily work toward a bachelor’s degree. These pathways are supported by automatic credits earned for military training and experience.

In July, Bemidji State and Alexandria Community and Technical College in Alexandria, Minnesota, formed a new partnership that builds on Alex Tech’s direct relationship with the United States Naval Community College (USNCC). Sailors, Marines, and members of the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserves start their educational journeys at the USNCC, pursuing credentials relevant to their military careers. Those credentials then transfer seamlessly into associate’s degree programs at Alex Tech that are built specifically to meet the needs of military students. After receiving an associate’s degree, students can complete a bachelor’s degree in accounting, engineering technology, project management or social work at Bemidji State.

From Alex Tech:

• General engineering and general engineering technology graduates can transfer into BSU’s engineering technology program;
• Accounting graduates can transfer into BSU’s accounting program;
• Behavioral health and human services graduates can transfer into BSU’s social work program; and
• Health care and administrative specialist graduates can transfer into BSU’s applied management or project management—operations emphasis programs.

Dan Voss, BSU’s director of academic partnerships, said the program allows military students to get direct credit for their hands-on training, and have flexible options that can adapt to their schedules.

“Navy personnel can pursue these degrees 100% online,” Voss said. “This meets the needs of our students, whether they’re on a Navy base stateside or deployed on a carrier halfway around the world.”

Global Military Learning Network

Additional opportunities are available to active-duty and veteran members from all branches of service through the Global Military Learning Network (GMLN).

The network is a consortium of five Minnesota State colleges and universities, created to better serve military service members and veterans. Programs offered within the network are designed to stack upon each other, meaning a student can start with a certificate program and work their way up to an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, at their own pace, without taking additional, unnecessary coursework.

The program offers automatic college credits depending on a Military Occupational Specialty, rating or rank in the military. For BSU programs, qualifying students can automatically receive up to 38 college credits, or more than one-third of the 120 credits typically required for a bachelor’s degree. With BSU’s Fall 2025 tuition at approximately $334 per credit, this program can help degree-seeking veterans save nearly $13,000.

GMLN students complete a bachelor’s degree in applied engineering or in project management, with either a construction or operations emphasis, at BSU, 100% online, and enrolled full-time or part-time as their schedules permit. Network students also can join a supportive community of other military students, a receive guidance from a dedicated success coach.

The Global Military Learning Network includes Bemidji State, Northwest Technical College in Bemidji, Alexandria Technical & Community College, and Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.