As federal funds from the new $78B GI Bill begin to circulate in college campuses, military veterans are weighing their education options. A recent survey indicates these prospective students are looking beyond terms such as “military friendly” for more meaningful indicators of a school’s commitment to help educate veterans.

The survey, conducted by the GI Bill Hub and Military MBA, gauged the opinions of veterans toward terms used by schools to describe their programs. Military veterans around the country offered the following advice for perspective students:

• When asked if the term “military friendly” provided a meaningful indicator that could be used to make a good decision about a school, the majority of respondents (52.2 percent) said it provided no meaningful value. The remaining 48 percent could not agree on what it actually meant to be “military friendly.”
• Most respondents (69.5 percent) felt “military friendly” schools and lists were overused.
• Finally, 85 percent said they would not enroll in a university that advertised its “military friendly” status.

A comment from one veteran, former Army Captain Karl Trunk, underscores the sentiment of many service members who participated in the survey: “ … I see too many institutions preying on service members and veterans and claiming to be military friendly just because they can accept GI Bill money. To me, a truly military friendly program is one with faculty who understand the unique value of the leadership lessons veteran students bring to the classroom and administrators who go the extra mile for veterans before, during and following their chosen programs of study.”

Another veteran adds, "The best way to decide on a college is to find a measure - characterized by specific criteria – such as participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program for tuition costs."

Survey results and similar comments from participants prompted Military MBA and the GI Bill Hub to develop a new school ranking system based on the values and benefits defined in the New GI Bill, which will be released soon.

“The message to all of us working with federal funding for military students is clear,” notes Greg Eisenbarth, who led the research project. “Veterans are looking for evaluation standards on colleges that recognize their unique position and map directly to value provided by the GI Bill. It’s our responsibility to serve military students this way and be good stewards of public funds.”

Complete results of the “Military Friendly” survey are available at gibillhub.com or militarymba.net.

About GI Bill Hub and Military MBA

The GI Bill Hub is a student resource center for veterans and their families who plan to use the New GI Bill to further all levels of their education. Military MBA is an education network for military officers and NCOs who are interested in applying their MBA graduate degrees for career advancement. Both organizations have professional backgrounds in BusinessWeek's B-School rankings and J.D. Power & Associates Customer Satisfaction Index. They have also worked with Senator Webb (author of the New GI Bill) and his office of legislative aides to conduct research on military retention and have participated in a variety of efforts to support creation of the bill and usage of the program.