Recruiting Military Veterans: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) & Marketing Planning Questions for College Administrators

CollegeRecon’s School Finder is the #1 discovery and research platform for military-connected students looking to enroll in a post-secondary institution.

We provide schools the opportunity to engage with the military community at the critical moment where they seek to make decisions about their education and career futures. We help schools demonstrate and build awareness of their support of the military and veteran communities through their unique offerings and programs.

Many student veterans are not aware of all the opportunities available to them right in their own backyard; even more so those located across the country. We have nearly 3,000 colleges and universities with profiles in our online network…

CollegeRecon is free to the military community. We offer economical and effective ways for schools to reach this difficult to reach, niche audience.

We work with schools with GI Bill-approved programs looking to reach the military community at the critical point where they’re trying to determine where they want to go to school.

Important disclaimer: We will not work with any school possessing a VA Caution Flag.

We work with schools of all sizes: small, private, liberal arts colleges, large state universities and online colleges with national offerings.

Whether a school has a very recognizable brand, but is looking to continue growing, or a school has just recently started focusing on student-veterans; we have successfully provided real, quantitative results for schools.

Please review our case studies to learn more.

We provide schools with access to the largest online audience of military-connected men and women looking to begin their education journeys.

Our members have military education benefits including Tuition Assistance, MyCAA, Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Montgomery GI Bill. They don’t know yet where they would like to go to school, but more than one million are using our platform to “Find Their Perfect Match.” This matching consists of: military and veteran support services, education goals, degrees and in some cases geography.

We partner with schools to build awareness with the military community, growing your engagement across the platform. This leads to interaction with your brand, your school’s profile and potentially direct requests for information from our members.

Please request our case studies for more information on how we have helped other schools.

We put the veteran first in everything we do. This is represented by our endorsements and the vetting our program has undergone. We are an approved tool of Army and Air National Guard Education Services, we work closely with select Student Veterans of America chapters and we power the American Legion’s Virtual Education Center.

We own and operate premium brands (CollegeRecon, CareerRecon and MyMilitaryBenefits) and drive the majority of our traffic organically from search engines and social media.

We do not operate anonymously trying to lure prospective students at high volume and thus producing low quality prospects. We focus on you and what makes you different to stand out amongst the nearly 3,000 schools on our platform. We help drive awareness and discovery of your school and your offerings, and we do it locally, regionally or nationally.

We have a reputation as an excellent partner for schools seeking for effective and economical military outreach programs. We have options for schools of all sizes with budgets that typically save schools money in the long run by limiting lead purchases, staffing and travel requirements.

Our primary mission is to address the current lack of awareness plaguing veterans interested in beginning or continuing their educational journey without the resources and information needed to make informed decisions on where to enroll.

We put our members first in everything we do and our brands are viewed as trustworthy and military-centric.

Nearly 85% of our million+ annual visitors have directly served or are currently serving in the U.S. Military!

40% of our members are either Active Duty, Guard or Reserves. Another 45% are Veteran or Retired status. The remaining 15% is made up of spouses and dependents with MyCAA or Post 9/11 GI Bill eligibility.

Business and healthcare are the most popular degree fields while we also see strong interest in animal science, criminal justice and engineering. A growing population is searching for online opportunities.

50-55% of the searches conducted on CollegeRecon each month are for students looking to obtain (begin or complete) their bachelor’s degrees. More than 70% of our members have taken courses while in the military or may qualify for college credits based on their military experience. Schools typically consider our members to be “transfer” students.

Our members are in all stages of the transition process; including searches for benefits information, individuals beginning their college search from scratch, or researching specific universities.

We have been on the front lines of changing the way colleges and universities reach the military community over the last half-decade and have proven metrics to show our methods and partnership programs provide real results. Buying and selling leads, framing your school as “friendly” in print magazines and attending education fairs are no longer the most effective and economical way to get in front of prospective student veterans.

CollegeRecon has created the largest discovery and engagement platform in the country, built exclusively for the military communities. Your school can successfully grow your brand awareness and inquiry rate through our integrated marketing programs. Additionally, while working with us you will better understand what this highly niche audience is looking for as they make these crucial life decisions to better prioritize your own internal efforts of servicing these men and women.

We pride ourselves on exceptional customer service for our partner schools that is both informative and transparent.

When you choose to work with CollegeRecon you will be provided with monthly updates detailing your:

• Number of military or veterans researching your school,
  total profile views
• Number of times you appeared in search results
• Number of times your school was saved
• Total number of times members requested information from your school.

CollegeRecon team members work with you to ensure all of your school offerings are portrayed in the most optimal light while giving you the chance to share your story and explain why you are different. Our audience is unique and no one knows them better than our highly engaged and passionate team.

We have been vetted and are partnered with key VSOs in the military and veteran communities. We are not a lead generator and do not sell user information on a per-head basis. No message is ever sent from our members to a school without being done so by the member, directly. School profile views are 100% organic and we do not buy any traffic directly to a school profile to inflate metrics.