Veterans Programs Earn Top Grade

Military Advanced Education has named Eastern Florida State College a top school in its “2015 MAE Guide to Colleges & Universities" that measures the best practices in military and veteran education.

The Guide can be found in the December issue of MAE and online at
www.mae-kmi.com.

The Guide presents the results of a questionnaire of military-supportive policies at more than 600 colleges and universities, providing students with information about institutions that go out of their way to support veterans and those in uniform.

This year, the institutions were evaluated on their military culture, financial aid, flexibility, on-campus support and online support services.

“The Guide serves as an invaluable tool for those in education and in the military who are advising service members about their educational opportunities,” said Kelly Fodel, MAE’s editor.

The award follows the opening earlier this year of a new Veterans Resource Center at Eastern Florida State College that provides a wide range of services to assist veterans in the classroom and their personal lives along with advising active-duty personnel.

The center has offices on the college’s Cocoa and Melbourne campuses and includes regular visits by representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs to help veterans with their benefits.

Center officials also go to Patrick Air Force Base and other military installations to talk with those in the ranks about educational choices at the college.

More than 850 veterans are currently enrolled at Eastern Florida, many of them having served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

“There is no higher priority for us than doing everything possible to give veterans and the men and women in uniform the support they need to succeed on campus,” said college President Dr. Jim Richey.

He noted the college’s 27 new Bachelor and Associate Degree programs were developed with military personnel in mind, calling them a “perfect fit for many veterans that will allow them to turn the skills they learned in the military into a successful civilian career.”

For more information visit EFSC’s Veterans Resource Center.