Last year, when I applied to the Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program (NECP), part of the process required me to apply to civilian nursing programs before submitting my application to the Air Force’s commissioning program. Like any other competitive college transfer program, this meant submitting transcripts for all previous college work. Since I had completed my Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) associate degree, I included it in my application. I submitted an electronic transcript request through Parchment in early October. However, while the nursing schools received the other transcripts I ordered within days, the same couldn’t be said for my CCAF transcript from Air University (AU).
This wasn’t surprising, though. The NECP community and other Air Force Facebook groups were filled with complaints about delayed processing from Air University. But as the December deadline crept closer, my anxiety grew. The idea that a transcript for an associate degree—one that didn’t even include prerequisite courses for my nursing program and was from the Air Force—could prevent me from applying to an Air Force commissioning program that only opens once a year felt absurd.
The CCAF page had a notice explaining they were “undergoing modernization with its processes and were currently extremely backlogged with sending official transcripts.” In response, I emailed the admissions offices of the nursing schools to ask if they’d accept an unofficial transcript in lieu of the official one while it was processed. I attached proof of my request, a link to the AU website verifying the delays, and an unofficial transcript copy I already had. Unfortunately, their replies were firm: “We require all supplemental items before your application can be reviewed. Unofficial transcripts are not accepted.”
Desperate to make this work—especially since I was already over the time-in-service limit for NECP and required a waiver—I began exploring every avenue. My first stop was the base education office, but they had no more access to AU than I did. Then, I submitted helpdesk tickets to AU, which sat unanswered. I asked my First Sergeant for help; she was willing but faced the same roadblocks. She even started looking for contact information for a First Sergeant at Maxwell AFB, where AU is located, hoping to leverage her network. But I didn’t have time to wait for those efforts to pan out.
In a last-ditch effort, I wrote to my congressman. His office was incredibly responsive, reaching out the day after I submitted my request. I went ahead and explained the situation, detailed everything I had already tried, and asked for assistance contacting someone at Maxwell AFB or AU to speed up the process. Within a week, I had a letter from the Commander of the Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, and the nursing schools received the transcripts. Problem solved.
The crazy part? Over a year later, I still see Airmen post in the NECP community about struggling to get their transcripts from AU. My advice is always the same: “Immediately write your congressman. Don’t waste your time with anything else.” But why should this even be necessary? How is this issue persisting? Where is the accountability?
If AU is using Parchment, as their website states, why is it taking significantly longer than it does for civilian universities? This isn’t just a minor inconvenience—it’s a significant barrier for Airmen pursuing commissioning opportunities, continuing education, or even just obtaining documentation for their hard-earned degrees.
While AU has finally added contact information to its website, it’s time to address the real issue: processing timelines. Modernization is great, but it can’t come at the expense of functionality. Do better, Air University. Our Airmen deserve it.
Emalee Mahr is a former intelligence professional who supported kinetic strikes across the globe.