MTU & NMU named "military friendly"

Michigan Technological University and Northern Michigan University have again been named by Victory Media to its list of Military-Friendly Schools released by G.I. Jobs.

The 2013 list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans and spouses as students, and ensure their success on campus. This marks Northern’s fourth straight appearance on the annual list.

“Inclusion on the 2013 list of Military-Friendly Schools shows Northern Michigan University’s commitment to providing a supportive environment for military students,” said Sean Collins, director for G.I. Jobs and vice president at Victory Media. NMU showed that commitment last May when it announced its new Veterans Scholarship guaranteeing in-state tuition for all eligible U.S. military veterans pursuing a college degree.

NMU Interim President David Haynes, who served as a member of the U.S. Air Force from 1965-69, said, “We want to make it easier for veterans to get a college education, regardless of their home state.”

Since 2008, Michigan Tech has offered in-state tuition to out-of-state students who are the offspring or spouse of a person on active US military duty.   Tech is also a “yellow-ribbon school”–a federal designation for a program where the University commits $2,500, which the government matches, to help offset the tuition of nonresident students.

Tech also participates in the National Service Graduate Fellowship–a federal assistance program for graduate students.  The University has a student veterans organization that helps veterans transition from military to civilian life, promotes camaraderie, and encourages community outreach, particularly with other veterans.

There is a component in Orientation at MTU that directs veterans to student services, as well as GI benefits, mental health providers and the veterans hospital in Iron Mountain.   Tech alerts faculty to watch for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), and, in a symbolic initiative: veterans wear red, white and blue honor cords at graduation.

The 2013 list of Military-Friendly Schools was compiled through extensive research and a date-driven survey of more than 12,000 VA-approved schools nationwide, according to a press release from the publication. Each year schools taking the survey are held to a higher standard than the previous year via improved methodology, criteria and weightings developed with the assistance of an Academic Advisory Board consisting of educators from schools across the country.