West Liberty University has been named a 2015 Military Friendly Schools ® by Victory Media, the premier media entity for military personnel transitioning into civilian life. The military friendly designation honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools in the country that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans and spouses as students and ensure their success on campus.
“We appreciate all veterans’ service to our country and encourage them to explore the enrollment options available to them at West Liberty University. The enrollment center is here to help them obtain the benefits they need to reach their educational goals,” said Registrar Scott Cook, who also is the dean of enrollment and student services.
WLU also employs GI Bill Coordinator Cheryl Mielke to answer specific questions along the way.
Victory Media, originator of the Military Friendly® group of education and career resources for veterans and their families, announced their list of 2015 Military Friendly® Schools on MilitaryFriendly.com and the all-new Schools Matchmaker tool on GIJobs.com. The online Schools Matchmaker enables student veterans and prospective military students to review more than 4,000 schools approved for Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition benefits, as well as schools that have earned the elite Military Friendly® Schools designation.
This year, the list highlights those institutions that exhibit leading practices to support military students. Schools earned rights to the Military Friendly® trademarked designation via qualifying scores from a rigorous survey assessment. Both the assessment and rights to the Military Friendly® designation are made available to qualifying schools at no cost.
New this year, prospective military students can see comprehensive information about schools approved for Post-9/11 GI Bill funding, as well as which schools have volunteered to be objectively measured through the Military Friendly® Schools survey process. The free, mobile-optimized Schools Matchmaker allows prospective military students to create a customized list of schools based on their unique preferences. With one click, prospective students can view schools that meet their individual search criteria, as well as a short sub-list of qualifying schools designated as Military Friendly®. Schools in the Matchmaker tool have the option to include information just for military students, including student veteran and alumni “success profiles” and live student reviews.
“Our goal is to get all 8,000 schools approved for taxpayer-backed Post-9/11 GI Bill funding into the Schools Matchmaker in 2015, and to have them participate in our free survey assessment,” said Sean Collins, Vice President at Victory Media and a nine-year Navy veteran. “The more transparent schools are in what they offer, the better decisions military students can make with their hard-earned benefits—and the more we can share leading practices among schools.”
In its sixth consecutive year, the Military Friendly® Schools list is the only resource based on a complimentary and rigorous quantitative assessment that measures schools on criteria created by Victory Media with the assistance of an independent Academic Advisory Board, and graded by an automated research suite. A complete description of our methodology, advisory board and complimentary services is available at MilitaryFriendly.com/FAQ. G.I. Jobs® is the primary resource for service members and veterans seeking education and employment opportunities. Free tools like the new Schools Matchmaker on GIJobs.com are used by hundreds of thousands of members of the military community each year.
The Military Friendly® Schools designation process includes extensive research and a data-driven survey of schools nationwide approved for Post-9/11 GI Bill funding. The school survey, methodology, criteria and weightings were developed with the assistance of an Academic Advisory Board comprised of educators from schools across the country. The survey is administered for free and is open to all schools who wish to participate.
For more information on WLU and its student enrollment services for veterans, please click here or call Cheryl Mielke at 304-336-8129.
