List shows veterans which colleges are a good fit

BOONE—Appalachian State University is included in the G.I. Jobs 2011 list of Guide to Military Friendly Schools, which will be published in September.

The list recognizes the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools in the nation that  are doing the most to embrace America’s military members and veterans as students. It is online at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/2011list.

Criteria for making the Military Friendly Schools list includes efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, results in recruiting military and veteran students and academic accreditations.

“Currently, Appalachian has more than 250 students who have applied for VA education benefits for the 2010 fall semester, and the number is continuing to increase daily, particularly due to the implementation of the Post 9/11 GI Bill,” said Teresa Johnson, veterans affairs coordinator and assistant director of student financial aid.

“Appalachian’s selection as a Military Friendly School for the second year in a row is a testament to the cooperative efforts of the Appalachian Family in support of veterans and military education.  As Appalachian’s veterans affairs coordinator, I’m extremely appreciative of our continued support for our students who are currently serving in the military or are veterans and their families as they pursue their degrees at Appalachian,” Johnson said.

Appalachian offers in-state tuition without residency requirements for military students who are in the N.C. National Guard or active duty at a military base within North Carolina.

Other Appalachian activities cited as military friendly are having full-time veteran counselors or advisors on staff, a veteran specific page on the university’s website and a chapter of the Student Veterans Association on campus, and assisting veterans with career placement.

The tens of billions of dollars in tuition money now available with the passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill last year has intensified an already strong desire by colleges to court veterans into their classrooms.

“This list is especially important now because the Post-9/11 GI Bill has given veterans virtually unlimited financial means to go to school,” said Rich McCormack, G.I. Jobs publisher. “Veterans can now enroll in any school, provided they’re academically qualified.”

“The Military Friendly Schools list is the gold standard in letting veterans know which schools will offer them the greatest opportunity, flexibility and overall experience,” said Derek Blumke, president of Student Veterans of America and a member of the list’s Academic Advisory Board.

More than 7,000 schools were polled to compile the list. Methodology, criteria and weighting for the list were developed with the assistance of an Academic Advisory Board (AAB) consisting of educators from Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, Colorado State University, Dallas County Community College, Old Dominion University, Cleveland State University, Lincoln Technical Institute and Embry Riddle; as well as the Veteran Administration’s director of education services and the American Council on Education’s assistant director of military programs.

###