USF Named Best 4-Year College For Veterans By Military Times

TAMPA, FL – The University of South Florida found its way to the top of the charts according to Military Times.

USF was named the best four-year college for veterans in the magazine’s Best for Vets: Colleges 2017 rankings, which was released Tuesday, Nov. 1. The list recognizes accredited institutions of higher learning for commitments to the success of student veterans.

Through all eight years of Best for Vets rankings, USF has consistently placed in the Top 5, including a No. 2 ranking for 2016. This is the first time that the Tampa-based school earned the top spot in the rankings.

“It is quite an honor to be ranked No. 1 by this highly respected publication,” said Lawrence Braue, director of the Office of Veteran Success at USF and Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.). “USF has long been committed to serving those who have served in the military.”

The magazine evaluates colleges and universities in five main categories: University culture, academic outcomes/quality, student support, academic policies and cost/financial aid. Evaluations were completed based on a comprehensive 150-question survey submitted by each school, as well as the analysis of public data from three different federal agencies, responses of veterans about what is important to them and the editorial judgement of the magazine.

In the publication, Military Times highlighted USF’s proactive efforts to assist student veterans, track their progress and counsel them through their college experience. The opening of the article accompanying the list on militarytimes.com focused on USF’s “intrusive counseling,” the pet name for the Office of Veteran Success’ intensive academic tracking and outreach efforts.

With an 83 percent retention rate and a 68 percent graduation rate, USF student veterans are highly successful in the transition from the military to college.

“Our goal has always been to find ways to connect veterans with our university and each other,” Braue said. “To ensure their success, we began tracking academic performance more closely and being more proactive in connecting directly with the veteran to offer our assistance. By introducing services like tutoring or counseling, we are very successful in keeping student veterans on the path to graduation.”

Amiee Carpenter, a former Air Force staff sergeant enrolled at USF, told Military Times she has relied on other veteran students for tutoring help and has also helped fellow veterans in her work-study role in the school’s vet center.

“I think if I hadn’t worked at this office, it would have been a pretty difficult road, honestly, in getting back to civilian life,” Carpenter told Military Times. “I feel like I can talk to them about things that I can’t talk to people in class about. It’s nice, you know, to say something and to use military slang and to have people just understand what you’re talking about.”

The USF Office of Veteran Success assists nearly 1,600 student veterans and their dependents with benefits processing, peer tutoring and career and professional development.

In 2015, Money magazine also named USF the No. 1 college in the country for veterans.

Saint Leo ranked 8th for Best for Vets in Online & Nontraditional Schools

Saint Leo University was recognized by Military Times for its nontraditional outreach to veterans, placing it eighth in the country for its service to veterans around the world.

In addition to Saint Leo’s University Campus in Pasco County, the school’s students are educated at more than 40 teaching locations including many locations on military bases. Saint Leo has classes at one of the largest naval bases in the world, Naval Station Norfolk, as well as other bases in Virginia, Florida, California, Texas, South Carolina and Mississippi.

“Each year more than 5,000 veterans attend classes at Saint Leo, while nearly 4,500 active-duty military members are enrolled around the world,” said Saint Leo University President Dr. William J. Lennox Jr. “That number represents a significant percentage of the Saint Leo student community. And this commitment to military men and women is an aspect of Saint Leo University of which I am particularly proud.”

More than 500 colleges took part in this year’s Best for Vets: Colleges survey.

“We limit our list to encourage competition, and we genuinely hope this helps raise the bar for veterans on campus,” said Amanda Miller, editor of Best for Vets.

For more information on the USF Office of Veteran Success, visit http://www.usf.edu/student-affairs/veterans/.

For more information on the Saint Leo Military Affairs and Services department, contact Pamela Martis at pamela.martis@saintleo.edu or (352) 588-8234.

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