MSU awarded gold status as veteran-friendly school

In its annual ranking of veteran-friendly schools, the Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency rated Michigan State University as "gold status," its highest honor.

The ranking recognizes higher education institutions for their dedication to student veterans and dependents using their GI Bill® and other educational benefits.

"This achievement is exciting news, and reflects the high priority Michigan's public universities put on serving our veterans," said Will Emerson, director of student success initiatives at Michigan Association of State Universities. "This shows our university veteran programs are providing ongoing opportunities for student veterans to engage with one another, on and off campus, and in outreach to the local veteran community."

MSU participates in the Michigan Veteran Education Initiative and operates a Student Veterans Resource Center, which provides programs and services to support the student veterans and their families at MSU.

The Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency uses seven criteria to determine the level of support provided to student veterans and military connected students on campus:

• An established process for the identification of current student veterans and military connected students on campus;
• A veteran-specific website;
• The presence of an active student veteran association;
• Veteran-specific career services - including resources for vets, veteran advising and/or outcome monitoring;
• An on-campus veteran coordinator and/or designated staff point of contact;
• A system in place to evaluate and award credit based on prior military training and experience; and
• Monitoring and evaluation systems for student veteran academic retention, transfer and graduation rates.

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.