When you see the incredible systems and support our executive leadership has created, including seven generations of degree exploration software spanning more than 35 years, SOCRATES ®, & our SUPER Course Seminar, and experience the support we provide, you will be amazed. When you read the background of our founders and leaders, you will understand where these fantastic ideas and innovative solutions originated. Read on....

Prior to the 21st Century, traditional students dominated the world of higher education - young adults who had graduated from high school and gone on to attend college. However, this has changed significantly over the past years: Who are non-traditional students? EducationDive recently addressed this: "Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics shows the vast majority of undergraduates are now classified as nontraditional, whether because they have dependents, are a single caregiver, delayed postsecondary enrollment, do not have a traditional high school diploma, are employed full-time, attend school part-time, or are independent of their parents for financial aid reasons. According to eCampus News, 74% of all undergrads in 2011-12 had at least one nontraditional characteristic and about one-third had two or three. The more such characteristics a student possesses, the more likely they are to take fully-online programs," (T.G. Mathewson, EducationDive.com, Sept. 05, 2015).

Our leadership understands the issues people face which can prevent them from earning the degrees they desire. We support non-traditional students because we were nontraditional students. We also bring decades of experience in educational administration experience.

Tim Scoggins is the Founder & CEO of the Higher Education Resource Center (HERC), a division of Counseling Connection, Inc., and is the former Service Chief of Voluntary Education for the entire U.S. Coast Guard. However, Tim had a humble start and was blessed with opportunities to further his education as a non-traditional student. Tim served as a full-time firefighter in a large city for many years before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. As a military member, Tim understood that education is the key to upward mobility and committed to pressing onward. Working 24 hour shifts prevented him from attending classes on campus, so, as a non-traditional learner, he took advantage of degrees at a distance from a number of colleges and universities and applied credit that he had earned from the military, credit for professional training he had completed from government agencies and corporations, college level examinations, and professional licenses he had attained, Furthering his education made it possible for Tim to be promoted through 11 enlisted and officer ranks, inter service-transferring to the Army to attend flight school and later to the U.S. Coast Guard to serve as a Search and Rescue pilot before retiring from the military. Although he entered the military with only two college courses completed, he retired with degrees in Technical Management, Biblical Studies, Aerospace Technology, Business, and continued on with doctoral level work in Applied Computer Science. In fact, he earned an Associate's degree, two Bachelor's degrees, two Master's degrees and completed a number of courses toward a Ph.D.

In 1989, while serving as an aviator at USCG Air Station San Francisco, Tim was assigned as the Educational Services Officer (ESO) for the command. He attended the Navy's Pacific Fleet ESO Course and subsequently created the USCG Education Database to create degree plans for students desiring to further their education and see where their USCG credit could apply to curricula requirements. In 1991, Tim transferred to USCG Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, where he established the first full-service Base Education Center. With the degree planning and counseling support that he and his staff provided, hundreds became excited and were furthering their education. In fact, graduation ceremonies were held in the large auditorium on base for those finishing degrees at a distance. This caught the attention of Admiral Loy, who transferred Tim to the USCG Institute in 1993 and assigned him as the Service Chief of Voluntary Education for the entire USCG. His staff used the Education Database that he created to guide thousands of USCG members to degree completion. Tim traveled extensively, training hundreds of ESOs providing educational support to the workforce. In 2000, after he retired from active duty, Tim moved to Pensacola to create the most technologically advanced degree exploration system in the nation, leading teams of academic advisors guiding students to degree completion not only in Pensacola, but also in Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Anderson, SC, and Knoxville, TN. In 2009, Tim cofounded the Counseling Connection, Inc. (CCI), authoring student support websites and systems, including SOCRATES ® and the APDC Seminar, to enhance the support provided to students nationwide. Corporations served employ millions across the nation and around the world, making it possible to positively impact hundreds of thousands through the education support offered by this collaborative venture, the Higher Education Resource Center (HERC).

Dr. Sabine Scoggins was also a non-traditional learner. She began her studies completing two years of study in Nursing in Frankfurt, Germany, before moving with her husband, an Army officer, to America. On arrival in Alabama, she completed a year of study in Business Administration at Enterprise State Community College, then had her first daughter. When she mentioned to a fellow student that it might take her ten years to complete her degree if she continued one course at a time at nights or at a distance, her friend asked her, "Where will you be ten years from now if you don't continue on? Without a degree, wishing you had continued." Sabine took this to heart and continued, taking courses at local colleges and at a distance, including University of Wisconsin, Chabot College, Liberty University, California State University, and others. She also took advantage of college level examinations, earning a considerable amount of credit that helped her earn an Associate's in Business Administration an a baccalaureate degree in Psychology & Sociology from the University of the State of New York , Albany. She then went on to attend Southern Nazarene University, earning her Master of Science in Counseling in 1998 and continued on, taking doctorate level courses from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Southern Christian University in Alabama, and earned her Ph.D from Northcentral University. She taught undergraduate courses online for several years for Columbia College in Missouri, as well as graduate level courses for Liberty University. She co-founded and is President of Counseling Connection, Inc. We are blessed to have her serving in leadership of this collaborative venture, the Higher Education Resource Center.