The University of Central Arkansas recently announced that it has earned the 2024-2025 Military Friendly® School designation with a gold status.
Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2024-2025 survey with 537 earning special awards for going above the standard.
“We are proud to receive the Military Friendly School designation with gold status. This honor is a testament to our continued and unwavering support and dedication to veteran and military-connected students. At UCA, we provide an environment that fosters student success for our veteran and military-connected community as they continue their educational journey,” said Kevin Thomas, vice president for Enrollment Services and Student Success.
The 2024-2025 Military Friendly® Schools list is published in the May and October issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.
Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were 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.
“So much progress has been made over the past several months. We have transitioned from being a Veterans Office to having a Veterans Center. That has allowed us to make truly great things happen with outreach toward our military-connected students. We knew we were doing gold-level work, but now, officially earning the title of a gold status Military Friendly School validates that for us,” said Greg Pelts, director, Veterans and Military Resource Center.
For more information about UCA’s student veteran programs, visit UCA Veteran Services.
About Military Friendly® Schools:
The Military Friendly® Schools list is created each year based on extensive research using public data sources from more than 8,800 schools nationwide, input from student veterans, and responses to the proprietary, data-driven Military Friendly® Schools survey from participating institutions. The survey questions, methodology, criteria and weighting were developed with the assistance of an independent research firm and an advisory council of educators and employers. The survey is administered for free and is open to all postsecondary schools that wish to participate. Criteria for consideration can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com
