National Testing Center opening saves Airmen time, money

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Stephanie Englar
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The grand opening of the National Test Center was held June 3 at the Education Center on Columbus Air Force Base.

The National Test Center is a testing site that administers computer based testing for College-Level Examination Program® and DSST," said Larry Brooks, Chief of Education and Training. "Some NTCs offer other exams (Graduate Record Examinations, Graduate Management Admission Test, etc.); however, for now, our NTC will only offer CLEP and DSST."

Before the testing center was opened, students had to travel to Mississippi State University or Meridian, Miss. for testing.

"This program is important to Columbus AFB as it allows Airmen to meet degree requirements for the Community College of the Air Force without traveling to either MSU (CLEP) or Meridian, Miss. (DSST)," said Brooks. "When Airmen were traveling to take exams at an NTC they lost that duty time and were not reimbursed travel expenses. The Department of Defense has a standard that requires us to offer Computer Based Testing and the NTC meets that goal. Many military friendly schools will accept CLEP/DSST exams for college credit, and this not only saves the airmen time, but saves valuable Tuition Assistance dollars."

The NTC will be open to anyone with access to the base, however, it will be fee based. Active duty military are allowed to take the first CLEP/DSST free of charge but retests will not be free.

"I'm extremely proud of the relationship our base has with Saint Leo University," said Brooks. "They started operations on CAFB in 2008 and are very student and community focused. When I informed SLU that Airmen had to travel to Meridian, Miss., to take a DSST exam (approx. 90 minutes each way), they agreed to host an on-base NTC. I have been working with SLU since January of this year to make this a reality."

Brooks continued by saying that the NTC will initially offer exams Monday through Friday and will be able to seat three students, but the program can grow if utilization shows a need.