Southern Virginia University announced this week that students can soon receive credit for religious and military service and caregiving.
For students who are full-time parents or returned missionaries, this means they are a few steps closer to graduation.
SVU President Aaron Hale told the Deseret News the program will enable students to “graduate sooner, spend less and just get on to the life that the Lord has prepared for them.”
In a press release, the university said the Credit for Recognized Experience, Service, or Training (Knight’s CREST) program will begin in the 2026-27 academic year. Eligible students can earn up to 24 credits for religious service — 12 credits for service and 12 credits for language — and up to 42 credits for military training and experience.
The credit applies to:
- Formal programs through church or religion
- Humanitarian work
- Military service
- Peace Corps
- AmeriCorps
- Informal experience as a primary parent or caregiver
Hale said this program allows the university to recognize the considerable work and effort that goes into missionary, military, family and other service. Southern Virginia University is a private institution of higher education aligned with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so many of its students are returned missionaries.
Hale said returned missionaries shouldn’t be treated like freshmen.
“Most colleges … treat them like 18-year-olds straight out of high school, even though they’ve had two years of working 60-hour workweeks and leading in districts and zones and teaching and having all these cultural experiences,” he said. “So we want to recognize them for that service and for the experience that they’ve gained through that.”
The response from students has been “fantastic,” according to Hale. One SVU student learned the program would allow him to graduate a whole year earlier than planned, so he’ll head to law school next year.
“For a returned missionary who served internationally or speaks a different language, those 24 credits represent essentially a year of their college wiped out,” Hale said. “So they can graduate in three years instead of four.”
Those who apply for credits as full-time parents or caregivers record their experience using the NACE Career Readiness Competencies,
“They can document in self-development, communication, critical thinking, understanding of cultures, professionalism, digital literacy, leadership, teamwork — all different areas that are already part of the accredited standards and that most colleges can and do recognize,” Hale said.
‘A moment of real reckoning’
SVU’s credit program comes during a transformative era for higher education. Several universities, including the University of Utah, have begun to offer similar service credits. Others, including Weber State and Utah Valley University, have proposed accelerated, 3-year bachelor’s programs.
“Higher education is in a moment of real reckoning,” Hale said. “Costs, debt, time to degree are all weighing on families.”
At the same time, SVU emphasizes the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ, which encourages education and preparation for the future.
“So what we’re really trying to do is to bring both of those aspects together to make it easier, not harder, for faithful young people to launch into a meaningful life and career,” Hale said.
He added that in the past few years of educational upheaval, the liberal arts have somewhat gone out of favor. But in the age of artificial intelligence, a liberal arts background adds value to personal and professional lives.
“We’re teaching students how to discern truth and how to ask the right questions and craft responses,” Hale said. “They can oversee AI and manage the results of AI without being automated away by it.”