KU ranked as No. 10 best school in the country for veterans for second year

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has earned another top-10 spot from Military Times in its Best for Vets: Colleges 2017 rankings.

The rankings, released Nov. 1, rate schools on a number of factors, including an assessment of veteran and military student services and rates of academic achievement.

The complete rankings are available online and will appear in full in a special magazine issue of Military Times on newsstands in mid-November.

KU also earned recognition from two other organizations that rate schools on how it meets veterans’ needs.

Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs, STEM Jobs, Vetrepreneur and Military Spouse, named KU as a 2017 Military Friendly School. KU also has been designated as a “Top School” in the 2017 Military Advanced Education & Transition Guide to Colleges and Universities research study, which is scheduled to be released in December.

“We’re honored to be recognized as a top-10 university once again for our efforts in creating a supportive and inclusive environment for our military-affiliated students,” said April Blackmon Strange, KU Student Veteran Center director. “We want our students to not only enjoy their collegiate experience but to ultimately to succeed both in the classroom and beyond. These rankings help convey KU’s demonstrated commitment to our student-veterans, spouses and dependents.”

KU has been recognized by all three organizations each year since 2011.

KU has more than 1,100 military-affiliated students and more than 400 faculty and staff on its five campuses, Blackmon Strange said.

Students with military affiliations – military, veterans, spouses and dependents – at KU can take advantage of a number of different opportunities, including a student-veteran lounge, the KU Student Veterans of America student organization, VA Work Study opportunities, veteran-peer mentors and a UNIV 101 course specifically for new student-veterans, as well as veteran-specific tutoring services. KU also offers a variety of events, from meet-and-greet mixers to a series of activities during Veterans Day week.

The new 3,000-square-foot Student Veteran Center is currently under renovation and will open January 2017 in the remodeled Summerfield Hall. It will serve as a centralized resource for military-affiliated students and will include a lounge; spaces for studying, meeting and tutoring; a break room; and more.