Colleges With Best Student Veteran Resources and Salary Outcomes
Student Veterans Seek Colleges Offering Flexibility, Support, and Strong Salary Outcomes
Key Insights:
- Few states have colleges that offer the VITAL program, which provides clinical health, academic, and social support for student veterans.
- Many of the schools with the most student veterans are online institutions, though only one online school is part of the VITAL network.
- Student veterans may have to decide between the flexibility of online colleges or the stronger support networks of on-campus schools, but there are options in both groups that lead to strong salary outcomes.
Most veterans know that one of the perks of enlisting is financial assistance with paying for college after the military. But just because certain legislation, chiefly the Post-9/11 GI Bill, compels the government to help pay for college, doesn’t mean that all is well for the student veterans it supports.
Student veterans tend to be somewhat older and often more mature than many of their peers in college. However, whether a first-year student is 18 years old and right out of high school, or with years, even decades, of military experience, both groups come to college for many of the same reasons. A college degree has been shown to boost lifetime earnings and career prospects.
Even for those who intend to continue soldiering, a degree in something like cybersecurity could open up new and rewarding pathways within their service. And when the time comes to leave the military, they will have a degree — on top of years of service — to help them land on their feet in the civilian world.
Salary Score Rankings of Colleges With Most GI Bill Students
Largest GI Bill Campuses | Salary Score | GI Bill Students | GI Bill + Yellow Ribbon Aid |
---|---|---|---|
EXCELSIOR COLLEGE | 94 | 2,156 | $11,889,840 |
AMERICAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY SYSTEM | 92 | 18,012 | $62,203,465 |
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY SAN DIEGO | 92 | 4,773 | $38,400,724 |
CAPELLA UNIVERSITY | 92 | 2,405 | $10,175,658 |
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GLOBAL CAMPUS | 89 | 12,048 | $50,852,038 |
COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY | 87 | 3,717 | $9,125,919 |
EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY-ONLINE | 86 | 2,334 | $10,605,252 |
WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY | 84 | 9,597 | $29,046,354 |
WALDEN UNIVERSITY | 83 | 2,772 | $13,105,152 |
TRIDENT AT AMERICAN INTERCONTINENTAL UNIVERSITY | 81 | 2,210 | $10,281,499 |
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY ONLINE | 79 | 13,894 | $53,627,285 |
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY | 75 | 6,784 | $28,919,625 |
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY | 72 | 2,371 | $24,222,989 |
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX-ONLINE CAMPUS | 72 | 10,405 | $56,461,207 |
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-COLLEGE STATION | 71 | 2,251 | $12,332,227 |
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE | 69 | 7,833 | $54,542,188 |
STRAYER UNIVERSITY-ONLINE-WASHINGTON DC | 68 | 3,439 | $21,602,342 |
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY-WORLD CAMPUS-UNIVERSITY PARK | 65 | 1,898 | $15,283,226 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON | 65 | 2,075 | $8,755,280 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GLOBAL CAMPUS | 62 | 5,199 | $29,921,590 |
PURDUE UNIVERSITY GLOBAL | 59 | 5,412 | $24,344,875 |
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS | 59 | 2,139 | $12,029,874 |
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA | 58 | 2,265 | $16,531,107 |
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS | 57 | 2,524 | $2,360,051 |
COLORADO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY-ONLINE | 57 | 2,883 | $24,040,806 |
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY | 55 | 2,771 | $13,368,392 |
DEVRY UNIVERSITY ONLINE | 55 | 2,995 | $20,632,067 |
KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY | 55 | 1,860 | $4,305,167 |
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY | 54 | 13,760 | $62,218,462 |
FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE AT JACKSONVILLE | 53 | 1,872 | $2,691,372 |
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA-TUSCALOOSA | 51 | 2,127 | $11,545,484 |
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY | 46 | 1,779 | $5,944,904 |
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY | 46 | 3,501 | $19,796,004 |
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO COLORADO SPRINGS | 45 | 2,063 | $11,638,643 |
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY | 43 | 1,884 | $5,050,842 |
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA | 41 | 2,362 | $6,001,206 |
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA-MAIN CAMPUS | 40 | 2,143 | $6,442,650 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO | 39 | 3,891 | $12,742,609 |
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY | 36 | 1,975 | $3,745,273 |
AUSTIN PEAY STATE UNIVERSITY | 30 | 1,960 | $7,446,326 |
ECPI UNIVERSITY | 29 | 2,107 | $22,653,427 |
FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY | 26 | 4,341 | $60,034,195 |
CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE MAIN CAMPUS | 12 | 2,814 | $3,049,032 |
Higher Education Programs for Student Veteran Success
Program Title | # Schools Approved | % Schools Approved | # GI Bill Students Served | % GI Bill Students Approved |
---|---|---|---|---|
Principles of Excellence (POE) | 10,227 | 48% | 721,104 | 86% |
DOD Military Tuition Assistance (MOU) | 3,837 | 18% | 732,741 | 87% |
Yellow Ribbon (YR) | 5,628 | 26% | 496,308 | 59% |
Student Veteran Group | 1,688 | 8% | 502,130 | 60% |
Eight Keys to Veteran Success | 1,924 | 9% | 518,397 | 62% |
Veteran Success on Campus (VSOC) | 144 | 1% | 11,795 | 1% |
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