University of Kansas ranked as No. 5 best school in the country for veterans
LAWRENCE — For the second year in a row, the University of Kansas ranks fifth nationally among Tier 1 research institutions in the 2022-23 “Military Friendly Schools” survey.
The annual survey is the longest-running review of college and university investments in serving military-affiliated students. Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation were evaluated using public data sources and survey information. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2022-2023 survey, with 665 schools earning special awards for going above the standard.
KU has ranked as a Military Friendly Top 10 school since 2018 and has earned “Gold” award status since 2017.
“We are honored to be consistently recognized as a top-10 Military Friendly School. This award reflects the university’s enduring commitment to our more than 1,500 veterans, service members, spouses, dependents and ROTC students,” said April Blackmon Strange, director of the Lt. Gen. William K. Jones Military-Affiliated Student Center. “We continually strive to create an environment that’s welcoming, inclusive and supportive of all our military-affiliated students as they move to, through and beyond the university.”
Methodology, criteria and weightings were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution’s survey scores with the assessment of the institution’s ability to meet thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer), and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans. The rankings are available online and will be published in G.I. Jobs magazine's May and October issues.
The Military-Affiliated Student Center at KU – a nearly 3,000-square-foot center in Summerfield Hall – serves as a centralized resource for students. It includes a lounge with 24-7 access, study spaces, headquarters for the KU Student Veterans of America student organization, VA work-study opportunities, GI Bill and military tuition assistance and more.
The university is one of just 104 campuses nationwide to have the Department of Veterans Affairs VetSuccess on Campus program with a dedicated VA vocational rehabilitation counselor. KU also has a partnership with a Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs representative to assist with VA claims – a once on-campus service currently available remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to the center, KU has several scholarships and an emergency fund for military-affiliated students, a Veterans Upward Bound program and a series of Graduate Military Programs. KU is one of more than 50 universities to have all branches of ROTC and one of eight universities designated as a Department of Defense Language Training Center, which educates hundreds of service members in strategic languages and regional area studies.
The KU Edwards Campus has a Veterans and Student Leadership Lounge. Additional KU academic programs and certificates are available in Leavenworth for military and civilians at nearby Fort Leavenworth. KU also has a 4,000-member Veterans Alumni Network.