Defense Budget Axe Cuts Into Education Program

David Carter of Stars and Stripes ran this article yesterday. I think the Navy might be breaking a recruiting promise with this kind of budget cut.

Cmdr. Dan Gage, public affairs officer for Naval Education and Training Command, said that nearly 4,000 courses, primarily intended for personal enrichment, will be cut.

"Unfortunately, the funding that supported this catalog of courses was part of a $25 (million) cut during the POM-10 budget cycle," Gage said in an e-mail Friday to Stars and Stripes. "As a headquarters, we have received significant budget cuts and have had to make some hard choices on what programs to discontinue now and in the future."

Gage said the NETg catalog offers courses on business and professional development, desktop computing and information technology. SkillSoft’s courses include topics like business skills, information technology, federal government, legal compliance and test preparation for IT certifications.

The E-learning programs are open to all active-duty and reserve sailors, ROTC students, delayed entry program members and Navy civil service employees as well as Navy retirees and qualified family members.

Gage says that nearly 100,000 people a year complete courses from the catalog.

If nearly 100,000 people a year complete courses through this program, and the program costs some portion of $25 million dollars, lets assume 100,000 and $25 million and add it up. That would mean the Navy is making a $250 education investment per course taken for its personnel.

I have taught several IT certification classes, and am very familiar with the cost of training government employees in courses associated with the programs being discussed here, and let me just say, at $250 per course taken - the Navy is potentially running one of the most efficient systems for these types of training courses in any government agency. Those numbers are truly phenomenal. I don't think the decision to cut the program was very well researched, at least from the perspective of comparing value.

I know for absolute fact the cost is significantly higher than $250 per course for training government IT staff annually, in fact, I'd bet no other agency in federal government is coming anywhere near only $250 per course for these types of courses. Seems to me this is one training program that someone should reconsider funding, because if the figures in this article are true, the Navy is really getting its money's worth here. I may be wrong, but I also think this is a recruiting promise for training preparation that recruiters have made to enlisting sailors, and that promise should be kept.