Sixth annual rankings factor in veteran and military students’ success rates
Military Times announced this week its Best for Vets: Colleges 2016 rankings, listing Syracuse University as the number #1 research university in New York State for veterans, the seventh best private university in the nation for veterans, and 35th overall among the 600 public and private four-year colleges and universities that took part in this year’s detailed survey. The Military Times’ annual survey is the most comprehensive school-by-school assessment of veteran and military student services and rates of academic achievement. Syracuse University’s overall ranking in the Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges 2016 is up four spots from 2015.
“Syracuse University is proud to be listed among the nation’s best colleges and universities when it comes to serving veterans and their families,” shares Dr. Mike Haynie, Vice Chancellor, Syracuse University Office of Veteran and Military Affairs. “Syracuse has been a leader in education for veterans ever since we helped champion the 1944 G.I. Bill. Yet, we are more committed than ever to our veterans on campus and realizing Chancellor Kent Syverud’s charge to make Syracuse University the best place for veterans.”
Syracuse University has implemented several innovative initiatives over the past year in support of programs, processes, and best-in-class practices designed to propel the educational experience of our veterans, military-connected students, and their families.
- Creating a single point of entry for all veteran and military related programs and initiatives – In January 2015, the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs was created, thus recreating a new version of Chancellor William Pearson Tolley Veterans Educational Program and Veterans Advisement Center (during WWII) to serve the current “Greatest Generation” of American veterans. Mike Haynie was soon after appointed Vice Chancellor to lead all veteran and military related programs and initiatives at Syracuse University.
- Strengthening our commitment to on-campus and post-degree success for SU student veterans -Syracuse University has created two new veteran-focused positions this year: one that concentrates on career development and employment needs of the veteran and military family community at Syracuse University, and another on better serving college-bound veterans and expanding military recruitment at Syracuse University
- Removing the financial barriers for veterans attending Syracuse University – Syracuse University began this fall to offer unlimited Yellow Ribbon Funding Awards to student veterans. The Yellow Ribbon Program is a supplemental funding program that when combined with Post 9-11 GI Bill Educational Benefits allows student-veterans to earn a Syracuse University degree at no cost ($0 tuition).
- Providing modern day technology and enhanced communications for our student veterans – Syracuse University graduate students, led by a student-veteran, and a faculty member from the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications, created a mobile application called VeteransU. Using the VeteransU App, student veterans at Syracuse University are provided guidance through their entire higher education experience, using a newsfeed of veteran news and events, and a step-by-step “roadmap” through the application process. The App also includes a directory that connects users, listing their military branch and contact information.
As with all Best for Vets rankings, Best for Vets: Colleges 2016 is an editorially independent news project that evaluates the many factors that help make colleges and universities a good fit for service members, military veterans and their families. More than 600 colleges took part in this year’s detailed survey.
“It’s been amazing to witness how colleges all across higher education have embraced service members and their families,” said Amanda Miller, editor of Military Times’ Best for Vets rankings and special editions. “Over the past six years of our surveys, we’ve seen so many schools first begin to foster – through new policies, services and dedicated facilities – and then nurture these wonderful communities.”
Military Times’ annual Best for Vets: Colleges survey asks colleges and universities to meticulously document a tremendous array of services, special rules, accommodations and financial incentives offered to students with military ties; and to describe many aspects of veteran culture on a campus. Military Times also factors in data from the Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments, as well as three Education Department sources: the IPEDS Data Center, College Scorecard data and the Cohort Default Rate Database.
“We award the Best for Vets designation to the very best – the colleges that really are setting the example,” Miller said.
For the full Best for Vets: Colleges 2016 rankings, go to: www.militarytimes.com/bestforvets-colleges2016.
Military Times’ series of Best for Vets rankings includes: Colleges, Career & Technical Colleges, Business Schools, Franchises, Employers, Law Enforcement and Places to Live.
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About Syracuse University’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (OVMA)
The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (OVMA) serves as Syracuse University’s single point of entry for all veteran and military related programs and initiatives. It collaborates and coordinates with all stakeholders to best serve veterans, military connected students, and military family members who are students or employees at Syracuse University. For more information about the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, visit https://veterans.syr.edu.
About Military Times
The Military Times digital platforms and newsweeklies are the trusted source for independent news and information for service members and their families. The military community relies on Air Force Times, Army Times, Marine Corps Times, and Navy Times for reporting on everything important to their lives, including: pay, benefits, finance, education, health care, recreational resources, retirement, promotions, product reviews, and entertainment. Military Times is published by Sightline Media Group. To learn more, visit www.militarytimes.com.
About Sightline Media Group
Sightline Media Group, formerly Gannett Government Media, was established in 1940 as Army Times Publishing Company, an independent publishing company reporting on military news and information. Since then, the company has expanded into defense and government news, and has launched or acquired more than 13 periodicals and extended its brand globally into the online and broadcasting arenas. Sightline Media Group is a subsidiary of TEGNA Inc. For more information, visit www.sightlinemediagroup.com.
About TEGNA
TEGNA Inc. (TGNA), formerly Gannett Co., Inc., is comprised of a dynamic portfolio of media and digital businesses that provide content that matters and brands that deliver. TEGNA reaches more than 90 million Americans and delivers highly relevant, useful and smart content, when and how people need it, to make the best decisions possible. TEGNA Media includes 46 television stations (including those serviced by TEGNA) and is the largest independent station group of major network affiliates in the top 25 markets, reaching approximately one-third of all television households nationwide. TEGNA Digital is comprised of Cars.com, the leading online destination for automotive consumers, CareerBuilder, a global leader in human capital solutions, and other powerful brands such as G/O Digital, Clipper and Sightline Media Group. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.