NEW: The University of Alabama ranks among top 10 Military Friendly Schools

The University of Alabama has ranked among the top 10 Military Friendly® Schools for their outstanding programs that support military-affiliated students. The competitive awarding system uses public data, surveys and a logic-based assessment to determine the winning schools. Keep reading for more details.

A gold medal for UA

From veterans to military dependents, there are plenty of UA students that need support through Veterans and Military Affairs (VMA) services. Speaking from personal experience as a lifelong Army brat and UA alum, the VMA office has an outstanding staff and programs that helped me in numerous ways throughout my college career.

Each year, Military Friendly® Schools awards bronze, silver, gold and top 10 distinctions to qualifying schools. Out of over 1,800 institutions that participated in the 2022-2023 survey, 282 were selected for “Gold” award status for their leading practices, outcomes and effective programs.

Final ratings for each institution were determined by combining the survey responses, public data sources and a logic-based assessment. Several different categories are taken into consideration, including:

• Graduation
• Job placement
• Loan default rates
• Persistence
• Repayment
• and Retention

for all students, and specifically, student veterans. UA not only earned the “Gold” distinction but was in the top 10 as well. Roll Tide!

Where Legends are Made

In addition to this competitive honor, UA was recently recognized by U.S. Veterans Magazine as one of the 2021 Best of the Best Top Veteran-Friendly Schools.

“I’m extremely proud of our ranking by Military Friendly® Schools. This speaks volumes about the resources and services we provide to our military-affiliated students and how the support relates to student success. The extensive metrics used by Military Friendly® Schools and the results of being ranked No. 10 in the nation shows how committed The University of Alabama is to this special population of students.” 

David Blair, director, UA’s Office for Veteran and Military Affairs

According to UA News, the VMA has recently gone above and beyond by opening an on-campus VA clinic satellite office in Fall of 2021, which offers medical services to UA faculty, staff and students who are eligible for VA health care. No other school in the nation offers this convenience exclusively for the veterans in their student, faculty and staff communities.

The UA VMA office is staffed by veterans and provides a number of helpful services like tutoring, academic advising, study spaces and more.

“I am extremely proud to lead such a great team of dedicated staff members supporting these students. I would also like to say that we could not accomplish such an important mission without the support of The Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, the Alabama Marines Foundation, University administrators and our partners across the Division of Student Life as well as our other campus and community partners. This status as a top 10 school from the Military Friendly Schools list is a sign that we’re doing that.” 

David Blair, director, UA’s Office for Veteran and Military Affairs

Other Alabama schools that were awarded this year include:

• Northeast Alabama Community College—Gold
• Auburn University—Gold
• Auburn University at Montgomery—Top Ten

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