November 09, 2015
SIU earns recognition from Military Times
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Military Times magazine today (Nov. 9) ranked Southern Illinois University Carbondale among the best in the nation when it comes to assisting student veterans as they return to the classroom.
The magazine ranked the university 40th in the nation from about 300 four-year institutions that participated in the survey in its “Best for Vets: Colleges 2016” rankings.” The magazine listing shows the top 125 four-year institutions, along with the top 25 two-year and top 25 online and nontraditional schools. In all, more than 550 schools responded to the survey.
The university has been in the Military Times list in each of the five years it has been published dating to 2010.
“The survey gives us a chance to take a look at how we serve our students, and ultimately to compare SIU Carbondale with our peer institutions,” Paul S. Copeland, the unversity’s veterans’ services coordinator, said. “We have a close relationship with Army and Air Force ROTC programs on campus, as well as the Veterans Administration Medical Center through the Veterans Integrated to Academic Leadership (VITAL) program and local veteran organizations, which helps us provide a familiar and welcoming environment for military/veteran students.”
The survey includes information about accreditation, student population -- including the number of military and veteran students -- graduation rates, policies affecting veteran students, support services, activities the school provides, and participation in the Department of Defense Voluntary Education Partnership, Copeland said.
This fall, the university is serving 582 student military veterans on the Carbondale campus. In addition, the university serves 365 active-duty personnel at 20 off-campus military base locations in 13 states, and 206 online distance-learning students.
This is the second time within a week the university’s program offerings for student veterans earned recognition. Victory Media named SIU Carbondale a “Military Friendly School” for 2016 -- an accomplishment the university has earned in each of the seven years that Victory Media, whose publications include G.I Jobs magazine, has published the rankings.