SUNY New Paltz again earns Military Friendly® Gold status

Victory Media, the leading publication and resource for U.S. service members entering the civilian workforce, has named SUNY New Paltz a Military Friendly® School for the 2018-19 academic year.

It is the College’s fourth year on the Military Friendly® list, and the second consecutive year earning an additional Gold award designation. Of the more than 1,400 schools that participated in the 2018-19 survey, fewer than 70 earned Gold or higher status.

The Military Friendly® survey methodology evaluates institutions on metrics including academic policies, admission, culture, career outcomes and military student support and retention. SUNY New Paltz is recognized as exceeding the standard across all measured criteria.

The military-affiliated student population at SUNY New Paltz has grown from about 75 students in 2013-2014 to nearly 400 students expected in fall 2018, and that growth is due in large part to the College’s Office of Veteran & Military Services, which has led a coordinated, campus-wide effort to support military affiliated students from application to graduation and beyond.

“Our office is dedicated to working with the campus administration and community to create a military friendly environment here on campus,” said Jason Gilliland, coordinator of Veteran and Military Services. “Today I’m honored to say that we have hundreds of veteran, service member and dependent students here on campus, and a College that recognizes the sacrifice each and every one of them has made. It’s an honor to serve these students and to be recognized as a Military Friendly® campus.”

SUNY New Paltz supports military-affiliated students in a number of ways, including through a Veteran, Military and Dependent Mentoring program, free parking permits, early course registration, special team-building events and help navigating the application processes for GI Bill® and other benefits earned through service.

These efforts have allowed New Paltz to emerge as a leader among SUNY institutions in veteran and military services. In February the College announced that it had been awarded a grant to develop a training on working with military-affiliated students, and to deliver that training to health and wellness staff throughout the SUNY system.

To learn more about resources available to veteran and military students at SUNY New Paltz, please visit us online.

About the Military Friendly® Schools list
The Military Friendly® Schools list is created each year based on extensive research using public data sources for 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.