ODU honored as a Military Friendly School for the fourth year in a row

Sep 17, 2012

Old Dominion University has been named to the 2013 list of Military Friendly Schools by G.I. Jobs, the premier magazine for military personnel transitioning to civilian life.

The 2013 Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities, and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America's military service members, veterans, and spouses as students and ensure their success on campus.

With approximately 25 percent of its student body being military-affiliated and its location in one of the most heavily military-populated regions in the world, ODU supports an increasing population of more than 2,600 veterans using post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to further their transition into the civilian sector.

The university began providing tailored education to service members nearly two decades ago with its innovative televised distance learning courses to Navy ships at sea. More recently it developed a unique CD-ROM program in engineering management for deployed submariners, and offers credit for military training and experience. It operates distance learning sites on more than 15 military installations, in addition to its more than 50 sites across Virginia and in several other states.

Old Dominion has served as the educational partner for NATO's Atlantic Command Transformation for a decade, and is a strong research partner of the Department of Defense through such operations as the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center in Suffolk and the National Centers for System of Systems Engineering. Recently, ODU launched a Student Veterans Association, and boasts the only university-based Veterans Outreach Assistance Center in Virginia.

A number of ODU Distance Learning college partners were also honored with inclusion in the list:

Now in its fourth year, the 2013 list of Military Friendly Schools was compiled through extensive research and a data-driven survey of more than 12,000 VA-approved schools nationwide. The survey tabulation process, methodology and weightings that comprise the 2013 list were independently verified by Ernst and Young LLP. Methodology, criteria and weightings are developed with the assistance of an Academic Advisory Board (AAB) consisting of educators from schools across the country. A full list of board members can be found at the Military Friendly Schools website.