Has anyone successfully obtained college credit for PADI courses?

[tursiops]

My son took the open water, advanced and rescue diver courses because he wanted to learn how to scuba dive and do it safely. When we were taking an altitude diving course afterwards the instructor commented that he seemed like a natural and should consider going for divemaster - and that he could get college credit for some of the classes he’d already taken.

Sounds like your beef is with that instructor, who did not really know what he was talking about.

 

[old_man_and_the_sea]

I should note this was MANY years ago... 1979.

Just a few…

Thank you, though. At least it’s somewhere to start.

 

[old_man_and_the_sea]

Sounds like your beef is with that instructor, who did not really know what he was talking about.

I don’t have a beef with the instructor at all. I thought it was awesome that he was encouraging my son to continue his SCUBA training and it was quite a compliment that he thought he would be a good divemaster (I did not get the same compliment and have been diving since I was 13).

I think the instructor was just repeating what he’d heard many times and is heavily advertised by PADI and often repeated. Which is why I thought I would ask here because it seems that this is a commonly held misconception.

Would you have a beef with someone who complimented your son and encouraged him to pursue his passion? That doesn’t really make any sense to me.

 

[tursiops]

I don’t have a beef with the instructor at all. I thought it was awesome that he was encouraging my son to continue his SCUBA training and it was quite a compliment that he thought he would be a good divemaster (I did not get the same compliment and have been diving since I was 13).

I think the instructor was just repeating what he’d heard many times and is heavily advertised by PADI and often repeated. Which is why I thought I would ask here because it seems that this is a commonly held misconception.

Would you have a beef with someone who complimented your son and encouraged him to pursue his passion? That doesn’t really make any sense to me.

I'm out. You prefer to spend your time on transmit rather than receive. Good luck following up so diligently on an ill-advised suggestion from that wonderful instructor.

 

[Rider999999]

Hi, hopefully this is the right place for this question. My son is in high school and completed his open water, AOW and rescue courses last year and applied for a received a transcript through PADI for “college credit.”

He’s currently trying to see if his high school will give him PE credit for the classes (he wants to take different electives) and sent the transcript to his principal, but his principal wants the name of a college that has actually granted credit for the PADI course, preferably in California.

I was hoping that someone here had successfully obtained college credit and would be willing to share.

I remember reading that in BC, Canada some high Schools had given course credits. Here it is in the PADI Adventures in Diving Manual Page 366

 

[Wookie]

When we were taking an altitude diving course afterwards the instructor commented that he seemed like a natural and should consider going for divemaster

Hahahahaha. I can't tell you how many times I said this when trying to sell more classes.

and that he could get college credit for some of the classes he’d already taken.

And I told you exactly how to do this. You looked it up and agreed. ACE will issue the college credits, they are valid college credits, and I have them.

What you didn't find was a college willing to accept the credits. That has nothing to do with PADI and everything to do with you and your son and the choice of college.

Maybe you think colleges are in the business of letting you avoid tuition, but most colleges are very much a money making organization. Even the not for profit kind like having money in their coffers.

You might try a community college, where he can go for a couple of years and then transfer to a 4 year school.

 

[sea_ledford]

The only way to get college academic credit for a dive class is to take that dive class from an academic program. That might actually be at a dive shop through an agreed upon arrangement between the academic program and the dive shop, or it might be an actual academic class at the school. But, as you are finding, you aren't going to find a school that will give credit for a previously done, non-affiliated dive class. Just like they aren't going to give you credit for a non-affiliated swimming, welding, cooking or 3d printing class.

The PADI statement is just saying their academics are rated as rigorous enough to count for academic credit by the ACE. That is to help the PADI instructor at the dive shop develop those arrangements with a school, not for individual students to get credit at random universities. The fact that it is often misconstrued may or may not be intentional.

My university has a full recreational program from OW through DM, technical diving and scientific diving. We have a diving minor. If your son came to us and wanted credit for classes he already took (we get this question all the time, btw), we would say we can't give you academic credit, but we will recognize the certification and previous experience. You don't need to take OUR OW class, your PADI one is just fine, it just won't count toward your degree. You can go ahead and sign up for the advanced (or whatever) class that WILL count toward your degree.

 

[covediver]

Not sure this addresses what you need.

A couple of colleges in California offer scuba as a PE or otherwise course

Santa Barbara City College through their Marine Diving Technology program Marine Diving Technologies (MDT) < CourseLeaf
and
Cal State Fullerton through the PE program (24/25 Catalog)

KNES 214A - Basic Scuba (3)

---

Skin and scuba diving, theory of diving, safety procedures and ocean environment. Open Water Basic Scuba Certification earned with successful completion. Requires ability to swim 200 yards; float or tread water for 10 minutes.

Undergraduate Course not available for Graduate Credit

Typically Offered: Fall/Spring

The challenge seems to be how to get college credit for the course. I faced a similar challenge in 1976 when I took a private pilot ground school course at SBCC and tried to get it accepted as an equivalent course for Introduction to Aeronautics at SJSU. I had to show that the content of the courses was the same. I was able to do that by a syllabus comparison and a sympathetic counselor. For scuba the comparison would be simple. All openwater courses are taught to an RTSC standard and of course agency standards. You might contact the course instructor at SBCC to see if they have any ideas.

 

[Rickk]

Not college but I did use Rescue, Dive Master and Tech courses as part of requirement for continuing education for my engineering license. The stated requirements are pretty open, basically anything that requires science is considered good. The advanced courses had a fair bit on dive physics, dive physiology, safety in a hazardous environment etc.

First aid, which was part of Rescue is stated as a definite OK subject.

 

[Zef]

Sometimes when we want something to be true, we convince ourselves that it is true and we convince ourselves that we see signs of that truth everywhere...despite the contrary reality. I have been a PADI pro (divemaster) for a handful of years, and although I am aware that PADI indicates that one can receive college credit for their courses of training/certification, I would hardly consider it something they "heavily advertise"....in fact, with all the PADI training conducted, and all the PADI affiliated dive centers that exist around the world, one would be hard pressed to hear any mention of college credit for PADI training.

Good luck in your endeavors.

-Z