Navy Officer Earns Master's Degree for the Cost of Textbooks

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- It may sound too good to be true that a Navy officer who received her master's degree April 9 paid only for textbooks - yet it is true, and other Sailors have the same opportunity.

Lt. Olivia Degenkolb successfully completed a Master of Arts degree in administrative leadership through the University of Oklahoma (OU) using the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education (NCPACE). This Navy Voluntary Education (VOLED) program offers Sailors assigned to sea-duty commands the opportunity to take courses while on deployment through accredited colleges and universities with no tuition cost to students. Students' only financial obligation is to pay for course textbooks.

The Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD), headquartered in Virginia Beach, Va., administers the Navy's VOLED program, which is part of the Department of Defense's voluntary education program. Navy VOLED offers a wide range of education services and programs to assist all Sailors - officers and enlisted - in attaining their higher education goals. NCPACE and many other VOLED programs provide the Navy's uniformed workforce numerous opportunities designed to fit into their high-operational-tempo lifestyles.

While many Sailors take advantage of NCPACE, Degenkolb's use of the program to complete all her master's degree requirements is no small feat, according to Dr. Mary Redd-Clary, CPPD's director of VOLED. "Very few individuals have completed an entire master's degree program using NCPACE. As with this small group of Sailors, Lt. Degenkolb's achievement is noteworthy in that she was able to complete all of her coursework at a master's level while in a sea-duty status."

Degenkolb's sea-duty assignment was as a Naval Flight Officer with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 112, an E-2 squadron based at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif. She completed the degree requirements just before transferring to her current assignment at Commander, Logistics Group, Western Pacific in Singapore as a flag aide. During her master's work, she was deployed on USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in 2009.

Degenkolb learned about NCPACE and the Oklahoma program through Bryan Burdick, the Navy College Office program manager for Naval Base Ventura County in California. It took her approximately two and a half years to complete all the requirements. "Mr. Burdick was a phenomenal and extremely supportive resource throughout the NCPACE process," she said. "Not only did he help me find a suitable program, but acted as a liaison between OU and me."

Because the NCPACE program she chose was self-paced, Degenkolb said the hardest thing about it was staying on track. "Procrastination - whether intentional or inadvertent - is an easy trap to fall into," she said. "Life always presents a ton of distractions, both at work and at home, that eat away at your 'planned' study time."

Even with this challenge, Degenkolb would recommend the program to others. "NCPACE is a wonderful program that allows active duty service members the opportunity to earn their degrees at an affordable price. OU provides an interesting leadership syllabus, which is relevant to a leader's daily interactions and challenges," she said.

Pursuing a master's degree while on sea duty was the right choice at the right time in Degenkolb's career. "I chose the NCPACE program because the opportunity to earn a master's at the cost of books is unheard of. I was interested in earning my master's degree, but wanted to keep alternative shore duty options open," she said. "I was surprised at how few people seemed to take advantage of NCPACE. It's a phenomenal opportunity."

Degenkolb pointed out that the degree she earned is directly applicable to her Navy career. "Earning a master's degree is an important milestone in anyone's professional career. I feel that my degree, which focused on leadership, gave me interesting insight through case studies to problems and dilemmas that other leaders have faced," she said.

CPPD Commanding Officer Capt. John Newcomer said it is important to provide Sailors with opportunities to grow through the Navy's VOLED program, which is a conduit for equipping Sailors with strong analytical skills, the ability to make informed decisions, and avenues to pursue life-long educational and credentialing goals.

"With higher education costs rising every year and becoming more difficult to finance, it's understandable many people in the Navy want to maximize education opportunities. Lt. Degenkolb has set a high standard to complete a master's while on sea duty. I encourage all Sailors in eligible sea-duty billets to consider taking advantage of NCPACE."

Opportunities for continueing education support the personal and professional growth of Sailors making them invaluable assets to the Navy. They are important parts of the readiness area of the 21st Century Sailor and Marine initiative which consolidates a set of objectives and policies, new and existing, to maximize Sailor and Marine personal readiness, build resiliency and hone the most combat-effective force in the history of the Department of the Navy.

For more information about the Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cppd/.

Like CPPD on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Personal-and-Professional-Development/100056459206.

For more news from Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit www.navy.mil/local/voledpao/.