Recently, AU earned the rank of a “Military-Friendly School,” from G.I. Jobs magazine, out of a pool of 7,000 eligible colleges.
Four years ago, there were few resources available to veterans on AU’s campus, and those that were available were poorly publicized, according to Brandon Krapf, senior in the School of International Service who served in the military for six years in Iraq.
“The veteran community wasn’t known by the school or administration or the actual student population, and something more importantly, it wasn’t known by itself,” said Krapf of his first-year experience of AU in 2007.
Veterans see the “military friendly” ranking as recognition of progress made within the past three years.
“There are definitely schools out there that do a better job, and there are definitely schools that do a worse job than AU,” Krapf said.
G. I. Jobs magazine gave 1,220 of the 7,000 eligible institutions the “military friendly” distinction.
Charlie Fowler, a third-year student at the Washington College of Law and president of AU Vets, said he is doubtful that the evaluation of G.I. Jobs magazine provides an accurate portrayal of such a ranking.
“I think the criteria they used are really inadequate,” Fowler said. “I also did a Google search for G.I. Jobs, and I found a lot of universities saying they were ranked military friendly universities. They didn’t interview vets for this story.”
Colleges are evaluated for the ranking by an Academic Advisory Board that examines school's efforts to reach out to new veterans, financial support, participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program and a college's success in maintaining enrollment of a military and veteran population of veteran support, according to the G.I. Jobs media website.
Other academic accreditations are considered as well.
Krapf commended the administration for the rapid turnaround in support of financial aid and programming for veterans after the organization and advocacy of student veterans.
“It’s very much so because of AU Vets’ pressure put on administration and interacting with them and showing them what we need,” Krapf said. “When you look at it, from the start of AU to now, that was the crucial time period AU made a serious turnaround.”
This year AU will pay up to $13,800 in tuition each for 24 undergraduate student veterans, an amount that will be matched by the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the Washington Post.
If a veteran’s tuition exceeds this amount due to out-of-state residence, or because he or she attends a private university, the institution of higher learning can voluntarily enter an agreement to make contributions toward the student’s education through the program.
“There are still a few more things that can be done, but they have definitely stepped up to the plate,” said Adam L’Episcopo, former president of AU Vets. “Now and in the future, all I really want to happen is make sure that [a network] still exists, and if there’s any significant issues that come up, that they can be resolved quickly and efficiently.”
Staff writers Stefanie Dazio and Meg Fowler contributed to this report.
amooney@theeagleonline.com
