Military Friendly® designation spans a decade

JOHNSON CITY — East Tennessee State University has again earned the Military Friendly® School designation and begins a new decade with an additional top 10 designation for 2020-21 and continued Military Spouse Friendly designation.

Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation are evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. ETSU has received the Military Friendly® School designation for 10 consecutive years.

“East Tennessee State University has an extensive history of supporting veterans and military-affiliated family members, and this longstanding designation recognizes that commitment,” said ETSU President Brian Noland. “I am proud that members of the U.S. Armed Forces and military service families continually choose to attend ETSU.”

According to MilitaryFriendly.com, the top 10 designation places ETSU among the “guidon bearers for military/veteran programs and initiatives. They set the standard for other designations and are programs that continue to improve every year.” ETSU is top 10 in the large public institutions category.

“We are dedicated to providing the best experience possible for veterans and military-affiliated students by helping them prepare for the next step in their careers,” said Guy Hurd, director for the Office of Veterans Affairs. “Whether they are returning to school or attending for the first time, we listen to our students and connect them with the resources they need.”

ETSU first received the Military Spouse Friendly designation in 2018, which recognizes higher education institutions that recruit and support spouses of active duty service members while acknowledging and supporting military spouse students through the unique challenges of military life.

The 2020-­21 lists of Military Friendly® and Military Spouse Friendly schools will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine (www.militaryfriendly.com), and Military Spouse Magazine, respectively. The Military Friendly® Schools list has come to set the standard for higher education institutions to provide the best opportunities for veterans and their spouses. The list provides a comprehensive guide for veterans and their families using data sources from federal agencies and proprietary survey information from participating organizations. Final ratings are determined by combining the institution’s survey scores with the assessment of the institution’s ability to meet thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer) and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.

ETSU has over 600 veteran and military-affiliated students and is on track to have 1,000 by 2026, a goal set forth by President Noland. These students receive priority registration for classes each semester, exclusive access to ETSU’s Military-Affiliated Student Resource Center (MARC), a social and study space on campus, as well as personalized support from the Office of Veterans Affairs. Scholarships and out-of-state tuition waivers are also available, in addition to work-study positions for students using GI Bill® benefits.

To learn more about scholarships and other benefits available to military-affiliated students at ETSU, visit www.etsu.edu/veterans or contact va@etsu.edu or 423-439-6819.