Lake Erie College Earns Prestigious 2022-2023 Military Friendly ® School Gold Designation
Lake Erie College announced today that it has earned the 2022-2023 Military Friendly® School Gold Award designation. This is the College's third consecutive year earning a gold or silver designation. According the Military Friendly® organization "Gold Award winners have programs that scored within 20 percent of the 10th-ranked organizations within a given category." Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2022-2023 survey.
The 2022-2023 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in the May and October issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com. Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution's survey scores with the assessment of the institution's ability to meet thresholds for Student Retention, Graduation, Job Placement, Loan Repayment, Persistence (Degree Advancement or Transfer) and Loan Default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.
The Lake Erie College Veteran Education and Transition Support (V.E.T.S.) Program has been instrumental in creating a campus atmosphere worthy of these awards. The mission of the Lake Erie College V.E.T.S. Program is to facilitate the successful enrollment, registration, advising, retention, and graduation of military student veterans by assisting them in transitioning from the military to the college and civilian world successfully. The V.E.T.S. Program provides academic support, benefits and education counseling, program information and referrals to appropriate resources through a personalized approach that emphasizes individual attention and care.
"We at the V.E.T.S. Program are humbled and grateful to have earned this high honor. It is not only our privilege but our duty to serve those who sacrificed so much for us. Our veterans and current military personnel are the true heroes and provide us with the blanket of freedom that we live under each day," said Lake Erie College's Veteran Team Support and Program Coordinator.
According to Lake Erie College's Provost, Dr. Bryan DePoy, the program is in place to ensure veterans on campus get the best education possible and to provide them with necessary resources to support their college career. "The key to the V.E.T.S. program's success is dedicated personnel and highly personalized support for veterans. Coupled with a dedicated suite of spaces, including The Bunker, a room that serves as a meeting and gathering area for student veterans. The Veteran's Support Team and other members of the campus community celebrate this prestigious designation while also committing to continuously evolve and improve our strategies to serve our veterans and military families."
Lake Erie College's president, Brian Posler, states that, "achieving the status of being one of the top military friendly schools in the nation is an exclusive honor and demonstrates Lake Erie College's commitment toward honoring and supporting the many veterans who have served their country and are embarking on an educational journey."
"Military Friendly® is committed to transparency and providing consistent data-driven standards in our designation process," explains Kayla Lopez, National Director of Military Partnerships, Military Friendly®. "Our standards provide a benchmark that promotes positive outcomes and support services that better the educational landscape and provide opportunity for the Military Community. This creates a competitive atmosphere that encourages colleges to evolve and invest in their programs consistently. Schools who achieve awards designation show true commitment in their efforts, going over and above that standard."
For more information about Lake Erie College's student veteran programs, visit lec.edu.
About Military Friendly® Schools: The Military Friendly ® Schools list is created each year based on extensive research using public data sources from more than 8,800 schools nationwide, input from student veterans, and responses to the proprietary, data-driven Military Friendly® Schools survey from participating institutions. The survey questions, methodology, criteria and weighting were developed with the assistance of an independent research firm and an advisory council of educators and employers. The survey is administered for free and is open to all postsecondary schools that wish to participate. Criteria for consideration can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.