For the eighth consecutive year, East Tennessee State University has earned the Military Friendly School designation by Victory Media. ETSU will appear in the “2018 Guide to Military Friendly Schools.”
Rachel Fogg, a Veterans Outreach Coordinator for ETSU, finds the designation a great honor for the school.
“We see this as a great honor and feel that it showcases ETSU’s commitment to the success of its student veterans,” says Fogg.
This year, the university increased its designation from “bronze” to “gold” for being a public university that serves more than 10,000 students. ETSU currently serves 600 military-affiliated students. ETSU is on track to have 1,000 military-affiliated students by 2026.
Military-affiliated students receive important advantages, including priority registration, access to ETSU’s Veteran Lounge and aid by ETSU’s own Office of Veteran Affairs. ETSU Veterans Affairs Standing Committee is also on campus to address veterans’ issues of ETSU. Faculty, staff, student veterans and the Student Veterans of America serve on the committee.
In addition to these benefits, these students have the opportunity to use the G.I. Bill. Fogg says the G.I. Bill provides work study opportunities in the ETSU Office of Veteran Affairs, VA Mountain Home and even the National Cemetery.
Military Friendly Schools are decided by an objective advisory council and a third party auditor to verify results. This is to rank the best colleges, universities and trade schools for service members and their families to receive the education and training needed to pursue a civilian career. Schools are evaluated using responses from Victory Media’s survey and public data.
The surveys used in the decision process are free to schools to complete and submit. Only 849 of 1,300 schools were chosen for the 2018 guide. The schools are designated based on a combination of survey scores and assessments regarding student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence to degree advancement or transfer and loan default rates. The guide has been released annually since 2009.
In addition to being designated as a 2018 Military Friendly School, ETSU appears in special issues of “G.I. Jobs” and “Military Spouse” magazine alongside other 2018 Military Friendly Schools on militaryfriendly.com.
“Our office would love to serve more military-affiliated and student veterans at ETSU,” said Fogg. “We hope this designation ‘puts us on the map’ as a top choice for veterans, dependents and other military-affiliated students looking to start or complete their degree.”
If you’re interested in all the benefits ETSU could have for you as a military-affiliated student, call the ETSU Office of Veteran Affairs at 423-439-6819.
