Dec. 7, 2015
Kyle Guthrie
[email protected]
For the second year in a row, UCCS was ranked among the best universities in the U.S. for veterans by the weekly military publication, Military Times.
UCCS is estimated to have 2,000 students who are veterans, active duty, or are connected to the military community. The university ranked 90th in the nation among four year colleges.
The poll, which was conducted for the 2016 edition of the publication, used several factors in order to determine their ratings for campuses across the nation.
One of these factors includes feedback and data from the U.S. departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense and Education.
Other factors that were considered for the poll were accommodations and financial incentives offered to veterans, along with an evaluation of programs aimed at providing veterans with information about their benefits.
Phillip Morris, program director for the Office of Veteran and Military Student Affairs, said he was pleased with the ranking.
“We continue to try to create good opportunities for veterans and their families as much as we can with our best practices,” he said.
Morris explained the steps that UCCS takes to ensure excellent service for their veteran students.
“We work with a peer group that is an excellent group of schools,” Morris said. “My goal is to always learn from them as well and see what other schools are doing that is supportive and implement that as best we can for military families.”
“We also have an orientation program in connection with the local military bases that I think really helps our veteran military members make a seamless transition here on campus.”
Morris added that working with the community and a supportive faculty helps further veteran relations.
“Part of our uniqueness lies in our partnership within the community,” Morris said. “There are very few universities that have the partners off campus that we do.”
Jennifer Phillips, a graduate student who is pursuing a master’s in public affairs, explained why she chose UCCS as a veteran.
“One of the attractions I had to this university was the small community environment with the large university curriculum,” Phillips said.
Phillips also works as a School Certifying Official at Forster House, the center for student veteran relations on campus.