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Military Friendly Colleges

Updated | Hannah Heine
military friendly colleges

Every college and university wants to appear inclusive and accommodating. That’s how they attract students, even Veteran students.

You’ve likely seen catchphrases like “military-friendly” or “veteran-friendly” featured prominently on websites for any number of universities. But what does “military friendly” school mean, exactly?

College Recon has tackled this “Military Friendly College” question by reviewing similarities between institutions that stake this claim. Our data was compiled using reviews given by former students, and it also contained information presented by the colleges themselves.

What is a Military Friendly College?

Our definition of a “Military Friendly College” holds that the School:

  • Is it a Yellow Ribbon School or a state school?
  • Has a veteran student organization or association to provide support and assistance
  • Offers flexible and affordable accommodations for military and veteran students (one example would be accepting credits earned through military service)
  • Has a dedicated military and veteran counselor
  • Has dedicated military and veteran facilities

Use College Recon’s Search Tool to find this and other information about colleges and universities.

Determining Your Career Path and Education Goals

Choosing the right school is a difficult task. On one hand, you worry about which schools you can get into, and which one’s have the program you want to study. On the other hand, you worry about whether or not you can afford the program.

Tough Decisions

Before beginning any journey, you should know where you want to go. The same is true for Careers and Education.

We published an article on How to Determine Your Career and Education Goals, which guides you to answer some tough questions. For example:

    • What do you want to be when you grow up?
    • Do you like the job you’re doing now?
    • Do you have a dream job in mind?
    • What do you most like to do?

For that last question, there are resources available to help you figure out what you like doing. A good example is DANTES Career Assessment Tools.

Once you figure out what it is you want to do for a career, the next step is figuring out what you need to be successful in that career.

    • Do you need a degree?
    • Or a Certification?
    • Or a Licensure?

Answering those questions will inevitably lead to searching for and choosing the best program for your future goals.

Choosing a School

Once you know where you want to go, and you’ve determined which educational stepping stones you’ll need to get there, it’s time to choose a school. 

First, setting SMART education goals will help you stay on course.

Next, determine what challenges you may face while in school, like your current employment, child care, and how long it might take you to finish the program.

Check out College Recon’s 10 Step Guide to Going Back to College to help identify areas you need to consider.

Are you going full-time or part-time? In-person or online only?

These are all important considerations when choosing where to spend the next few years achieving your education goals.

Ultimately, the choice is yours to make, but getting most information up front will ease the decision-making process. 

You can find and compare online schools in the College Recon School Search tool.

Military Friendly Colleges Covered by Military Tuition Assistance

There are great programs out there to help service members and Veterans achieve their education goals. By far, the GI Bill is the most well known. 

Tuition Assistance (TA) is also a tremendous benefit to those still serving. This program can cover up to 100% of the cost-per-credit hour for your education. Finding schools that are military Tuition Assistance friendly is not hard to do.

Best Online Schools for Military Tuition Assistance

College Recon compiled a list of our selections for the Top 8 Online Schools for Military Tuition Assistance. This is a great starting point for learning about Tuition Assistance and researching some schools that may interest you.

These schools were selected for criterion important to service members and Veteran students:

  • Accreditation
  • Principles of Excellence
  • Graduation Rates
  • Job Placement
  • Program Availability

You should also check out our article covering Military Friendly Colleges Covered by Military Tuition Assistance, which explains TA in more depth. It also provides the following school lists:

Yellow Ribbon Schools

The Yellow Ribbon Program is another program that sounds familiar, but not every military or veteran student knows exactly what it does for them. There are important changes to the program that have happened since the passage of the Forever GI Bill. They include the following as announced at the VA official site:

  • Purple Heart recipients with an honorable discharge can participate in the  Yellow Ribbon program.
  • Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship recipients may also participate in the Yellow Ribbon program.
  • Active duty service members and qualifying spouses using transferred entitlement may participate in the Yellow Ribbon program.

What is the Yellow Ribbon Program?

The Yellow Ribbon Program is designed to cover some or all of the costs above, which the Post-9/11 GI Bill will cover. The GI Bill only covers tuition up to a certain amount, which leaves students at some schools responsible for the rest.

The Yellow Ribbon program helps those students cover more of the costs associated with their education by making their GI Bill go further.

What are Yellow Ribbon Schools?

Yellow Ribbon Schools are those that willingly participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. They make additional funds available for veteran students to help cover charges above the GI Bill’s limits. Schools can cover up to 50% of the tuition expenses that exceed the annual cap. The VA agrees to match the same amount contributed by the school. In many cases, this covers 100% of a Veteran’s tuition.

Not sure which schools participate in the Yellow Ribbon program? Don’t worry. We’ve compiled a list of Yellow Ribbon Schools at College Recon. You can also use our College Recon Search Tool and select “Yellow Ribbon” as one of your search filters.

College Credit for Military Experience

Based on your career field in the military, the length of your service, and any leadership training you received, you may be eligible to transfer your skills over to some institutions for college credit.

College Credit for Military Experience and Training

There are nearly 1,700 colleges and universities that allow students to translate military experience into college credit.

This is possible due to a partnership between the American College of Education (ACE) and the Department of Defense (DoD). Each organization reviews military training and recommends appropriate credit for its member schools.

This benefits the Veteran student in the following ways:

    • Fewer course requirements
    • Decreased tuition costs
    • More college credits on your transcript

First Steps to Transfer Credits

In order to receive credit for military experience, you must provide the school with a copy of your Joint Services Transcript. This document will contain, at a minimum:

    • Your military course completions
    • Military occupations
    • College-level test scores
    • Other pertinent learning experiences

After you receive your transcripts, could you review them for accuracy? Ensure that none of your training is missing, especially those NCO and Officer schools.

Once you’ve verified your record and that it’s complete, conduct your search for “Military Friendly Schools”. These institutions usually have someone trained to review the Joint Service Transcripts (JST) to maximize your transfer credits.

As a note, just because something is listed on your JST does not mean the school is required to accept it as credit. Not all schools have the same programs, which means that not all schools can accept every credit available in the universe of higher education.

List of Military Friendly Colleges

Multiple Top 10 Finishers for Military Friendly Schools

These schools were only three that finished in the Top 10 of more than one Military Friendly Colleges list.

*Note: number of appearances indicated by number in parentheses.

University of Southern California (USC) (3)
University of South Florida (2)

Schools Appearing More Than Once on Full Lists

These schools finished in the Top 50 of more than one Military Friendly Colleges list.

4 Appearances in Top 50

Eastern Kentucky University (4)
Lewis University (4)
Northern Arizona University (4)
Old Dominion University (4)
Texas A&M – College Station (4)
University of Nebraska at Omaha (4)
University of South Florida (4)

3 Appearances in Top 50

California State University, San Bernardino (3)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (3)
Ohio State University – Main Campus (3)
Quinnipiac University (3)
Regent University (3)
Saint Leo University (3)
Syracuse University (3)
University of Southern California (USC) (3)
Western Kentucky University (3)

2 Appearances in Top 50

Arizona State University (2)
Armstrong State University (2)
Central Georgia Technical College (2)
Colorado State University Global Campus (2)
Fayetteville Technical Community College (2)
Florida State University (2)
Mississippi State University (2)
National University (2)
Northern Michigan University (2)
Penn State – Greater Allegheny (2)
Rutgers University – Camden (2)
South Dakota State University (2)
Texas Tech University (2)
University of Dubuque (2)
University of Florida (2)
University of Kentucky (2)
University of Maryland – University College (2)
University of Michigan (2)
University of Nebraska – Lincoln (2)
University of Northwestern Ohio (2)
University of West Florida (2)

 

Here are the different lists that we evaluated from each of the different organizations.

Military Times – Best For Vets

D’Youville College
University of South Florida
Armstrong State University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
The University of Kansas
Syracuse University
Colorado State University
The University of Nebraska at Omaha
Georgia State University
University of Central Oklahoma

 

US News and World Report

Stanford
Dartmouth
Cornell
Georgetown University
University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA)
University of Southern California (USC)
Carnegie Mellon
University of Virginia
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
New York University (NYU)

 

Bestcolleges

University of Florida
North Carolina State – Raleigh
Central Florida
Texas A&M
Northeastern
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
University of Southern California (USC)
Penn State
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Missouri University of Science and Technology

 

LendEDU

George Washington University
Colorado Technical
Penn State World Campus
Regent University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
National University
Utah State University
Hawaii Pacific University
University of Massachusetts – Lowell

 

GuideToOnlineSchools

University of Maryland University College
Arizona State University
Southern New Hampshire University Online
Old Dominion University
University of Southern California (USC)
Ohio State University-Main Campus
University of Arizona
University of South Florida – Main Campus
George Mason University

 

MilitaryFriendly – GI Jobs

Large community college

Front Range Community College
Leeward Community College
Fayetteville Technical Community College
Cuyahoga Community College
Central Georgia Technical College

Small community college

Tarrant County College (Trinity River Campus)
CUNY Hostos Community College
Savannah Technical College
Mercer County Community College
SUNY Ulster County Community College

Small public

Lyndon State College
Penn State Greater Allegheny
Penn State Mont Alto
Northern Michigan University
York College-CUNY

Private not offering Doctorate

The College of Saint Rose
Life Support Training Institute
Olivet College
University of Northwestern Ohio
Southwestern University

Best Military-Friendly Online Schools

These days, and especially since the pandemic started, online learning has become more mainstream than ever before.

There are pros and cons to each side of the Traditional vs. Online learning environments, so choosing a school and its format are important considerations.

When it comes to online learning, some of the advantages many students appreciate are:

  • Affordability
  • Setting Own Schedule
  • More Degree Options
  • Self-Paced Learning
  • Accelerated Degree Options

The following is a list of schools who 1) accept the GI Bill, 2) are Yellow Ribbon Schools, and 3) accept Tuition Assistance funding:

(Please note, some of the schools listed above may have paid College Recon for promotional consideration)

For more information regarding online schools, check out College Recon’s list of the Best Online Colleges for Military students.

How to Become a Military Veteran Friendly School

Universities across the country have noticed a steady increase in military student enrollment over the past decade. More and more Veterans are furthering their education, and in numbers never seen before. 

While there are for-profit schools that see military students as guaranteed paydays, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) closely monitors and periodically audits institutes of higher learning.

If you are a School Certifying Official (SCO), and you are looking for ways to improve your school’s appeal to the VA and Veterans, read How to Become a Military Veteran Friendly School. This guide points you to all the resources offered by the VA for institutes of higher education.

For those School Certifying Officials (SCOs), the VA publishes resources to administer to students using VA benefits to pay for college. Some of these resources are:

Call the VA

If you would rather speak to a person directly, there are numbers to call based on your need:

  • GI Bill Hotline: 888.442.4551 (M-F, 0800-1900 ET)
  • VA Benefits Hotline: 800.827.1000 (M-F, 0800-2100 ET)
  • MyVA411 main information line: 800.698.2411 (24/7)
  • Students outside the US: 1.918.781.5678

More Resources on Military Friendly Colleges

So far we’ve covered a lot of information related to Military Friendly Colleges. The following links will allow you to dive deeper into specific topics.

Also, don’t forget to check out the College Recon School Finder to narrow your search based on criteria specific to you.

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