Pfc. Myron Dewberry, a Marine stationed at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Japan, signs up to take University of Maryland Global Campus classes, July 12, 2024. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Camp Fuji, the combat training center for Marines at the base of its namesake mountain, now has a place to help troops on their quest for higher education.
The Education Center at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji opened Friday with a ceremony presided over by base commander Col. Scott Wellborn.
“I encourage our Marines and sailors to take advantage of these opportunities with the Education Center being opened up here today, so that when they look back, they can say, ‘Yeah, I used that time wisely to invest in myself, the mission and walk away better educated,’” he said at the opening.
Troops can visit the center to set up their education plans, see what college courses are available and sign up for classes. It’s next to the base library and right outside the exchange and offices for the University of Maryland Global Campus and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Staff from the colleges assist students throughout the education process, including helping them sign up for tuition assistance.
Both colleges will be offering digital courses and in-class opportunities if enough students enroll through the new center.
Up to 300,000 service members take advantage of tuition assistance every year to pay for college classes, according to a Dec. 14 report from the Congressional Research Service.
Marines sign up for University of Maryland Global Campus classes at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Japan, July 12, 2024. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
Pfc. Myron Dewberry, of Bakersfield, Calif., enrolled Friday for fall classes at the University of Maryland Global Campus. His goal is earning a business degree, he told Stars and Stripes.
“This is helpful to people like me who have never taken college before, having people in person to help you through the process is the reason it’s extremely helpful for us,” said Dewberry, a Marine stationed at Camp Fuji. “Having an actual center here motivated me to start my goal.”
Altogether, five students enrolled for fall classes and two applied through the Global Campus after the center opened Friday, Aaron Marshall, assistant campus director, told Stars and Stripes that day.
The Global Campus program now has eight locations in Japan, he said.
Marshall, who served in the Marine Corps from 2006 to 2010 as a finance disperser, said he encourages active-duty Marines to take college classes.
Tuition assistance for active-duty service members may provide up to $4,500 annually, enough to completely cover the cost of six classes, Marshall said. Eligible service members who qualify for a Pell Grant could get a college education paid for.
“I tell people all the time, one of my biggest regrets from my four years in the Marine Corps is that I didn’t take more college classes,” Marshall said.
“Take advantage of it when you get out,” he said. “You’re going to have work experience, life experience and a degree while your peers are just finishing up their degree and have possibly a whole lot of debt, and you won’t have to worry about that.”
