Educational Counseling

A student must be enrolled in courses before transcripts may be requested for an evaluation. Please be aware that a student must complete at least one quarter of their program at NOVA in order to obtain a degree from the college.

You should contact a counselor at the MSO when you first apply for admissions to NOVA. The closer it is to the last day of registration at the college, the less time a counselor at the MSO can spend with a student. Therefore, to ensure you get the service you need, please register early and/or make a follow-up appointment with a specific counselor after you apply for admission and register for classes. 

To help speed up the process, you should review our online Catalog, print off an Advising Sheet, or course requirement checklist, look at the NOVA Schedule of Classes and/or the Military Educational Services Schedule of Courses for Fort Belvoir and MCB Quantico. In addition, please complete the Online Admissions Form and bring an unofficial copy of your military transcripts with you.

The MSO will submit evaluations to the counseling department for military transcripts, and all prior college transcripts as necessary.

Ask yourself the following questions before coming to the MSO:

Q: Did I complete any Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school?
A: If yes, NOVA accepts AP courses. You should order an official AP transcript.

Q: Did I complete a dual enrollment program at my high school that was accredited with another college?
A: Depending on your high school and/or program of study, you may have NOVA credits or credits from another participating college.

Q: Did I pass any CLEP/DANTES test?  
A: NOVA accepts both CLEP and DANTES and may be able to apply these credits towards your degree plan.

CLEP/DANTES School Codes are:
5517 CLEP
9711 DANTES

Q: Do I speak a foreign language? 
A: If so, you should take a CLEP foreign language exam if available in the language you speak.

After the student has been admitted, the student should request that all "transcripts" from any accredited source be sent to the Student Service Center.

If a CLEP is not available, it may still be possible to have an evaluation done. Please contact the Student Service Center.