Posted 9:59 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, 2020
UW-La Crosse on list of nation’s top military-friendly schools.
UW-La Crosse on list of nation’s top military-friendly schools
UW-La Crosse is ranked among the nation’s top Military Friendly Schools for 2020-21.
UWL earned a bronze rating among “Large Public” colleges and universities in the rankings, meaning it is within 30% of the overall 10th-ranked organization. Military Friendly is the standard that measures an organization’s commitment, effort and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefit for the military community.
UWL is recognized as having exceptional military and veteran programs and this award showcases their dedication says UWL Veteran Education Benefits Coordinator Jane Brannan.
“UWL demonstrates its commitment to veteran students by offering a full array of veteran services to serve service members, veteran students, and military-connected family members,” she says. “Our goal is to assist veterans with their transition from military to college life, offer peer-to-peer mentoring, and build camaraderie among service members.”
Brannan says while UWL was military-friendly prior to the recognition, the designation validates the university’s actions and programs.
“As a campus, we are doing the right things to welcome veterans, assisting them in acclimating to the university, guiding them in being successful in the classroom, and finding employment after graduation,” she notes. “This takes a team of talented individuals from every sector of the university.”
Brannan says some of the programs and activities for veterans and military-connected students at UWL include:
• Certifying federal and state veteran education benefits
• Holistic assistance in applying for, receiving, and resolving issues with federal and state veteran education benefits
• Priority registration for veterans and current-serving service members
• Written military withdrawal policy
• Dedicated veterans lounge in the Student Union
• General elective credit for completed military training annotated on the Joint Services Transcript or Community College of the Air Force transcript
• Equivalency credit for General Education category No. 9 for completing Basic Training
• Veterans-only UWL100 section (service ran through fall 2019)
• Active Student Veterans of America (SVA) chapter
• Extensive military-connected scholarships published in the Scholarship Resource Center’s database
• Veterans Advisory Committee
• Military-connected speakers and presentations up to two times each academic year
• Collaboration with Campus Climate Office to present a veterans’ teach-in (fall 2019)
• Stole and Recognition Ceremony to honor graduating veteran students, along with a faculty or staff member chosen by the student
• Army ROTC offered on campus. The UWL Eagle Battalion Army ROTC includes students not only from UWL, but also St. Mary’s University in Winona, Viterbo University and Winona State University.
UWL has around 165 veterans on campus with another 165 military-connected students. Find out more about Military Friendly at: www.militaryfriendly.com
What Military Friendly says about why you should attend UWL —
UW-La Crosse is proud of its military history and demonstrates its commitment by offering a full array of veteran services to serve service members, veteran students, and military-connected family members. UWL streamlines its admissions, onboarding and retention processes while maintaining high academic standards. The school employs two full-time veteran education benefits employees, provides priority registration, hosts a Student Veteran Association, and provides a dedicated space for veterans. Our goal is to assist veterans with their transition from military to college life, offer peer-to-peer mentoring, and build camaraderie among service members. UWL offers counseling, career advising, tutoring, academic accommodations and a veteran-only section of the first-year seminar.