Personal, academic, and professional resources for student veterans give UMassD distinction
On February 17, 2021, UMass Dartmouth earned the prestigious Gold award rank as part of its 2021-2022 Military Friendly® School designation by the eponymous organization Military Friendly®.
With a strong dedication to the academic, personal, and professional success of student veterans, the University’s efforts were recognized with a Gold award rank – a distinction reserved for schools that score within 10% of the 10th ranking school in their category. The Gold designation is the second-highest ranking offered. Each year, Military Friendly® sets the standard for higher education institutions to provide the best opportunities for veterans and their families.
At UMass Dartmouth, faculty and staff are committed to providing student veterans with information and resources to ease the transition to civilian and academic life. Veterans and active-duty military members receive their own orientation, where they meet their fellow new student veterans and veteran members of the faculty and staff. Support is available through the Veterans Assistance Office in the campus center where information on counseling, financial aid, and other issues relating to their lives are available. Veterans and active military duty students also have their own dedicated study room in the library and can join the Student Veterans Association organization on campus.
According to Military Friendly®, their methodology includes “the evaluation of both public data about the institution and proprietary data gathered through our free Military Friendly® Schools survey…Each year, schools taking the survey are held to a higher standard than in previous years via improved methodology, criteria and weightings developed with the assistance of an independent research firm and our Advisory Council.” Each school receives a final score that encompasses the institution’s retention, graduation, job placement, and loan repayment factors for student veterans.
The full list of Military Friendly® Schools can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.