The University of Wyoming has been designated as a “Top School” in the Military Advanced Education’s (MAE) latest issue of “Guide to Colleges and Universities.” The guide measures best practices in military and veterans education.

UW’s designation is the result of an MAE questionnaire on the military-supportive policies enacted at more than 600 institutions including private, public, for-profit, not-for-profit, and four-year and two-year colleges. To view MAE’s 2015 guide, visit the website at www.mae-kmi.com.

The award is a “testament to the commitment UW has placed on serving our student veterans,” says Marty Martinez, senior project coordinator for the UW Veterans Program and Veterans Services Center.

“It’s easy for a school to say it is ‘veteran friendly’ in advertisements or literature, but UW makes that statement come alive through an administration, faculty and staff that is willing to work with our military and veteran students to accommodate and overcome the challenges presented by military service and veteran-specific issues,” Martinez says. “As UW continues to increase its programming, policies and services for military and veteran students, I am pleased that our administration has expanded this support to serve our military dependents using transferred education benefits.”

In its eighth year publishing its education guide, MAE was the first publication to launch a reference tool of this type. This year, institutes were evaluated on military culture, financial aid, flexibility, on-campus support and online support services. Each school’s performance rating, by category, is represented by an easy-to-recognize dashboard. This enables prospective students to quickly target schools that follow best practices in military education, and then puts these in context with other academic or career considerations.

“From community colleges to state universities, online universities and nationally known centers of higher learning, MAE’s 2015 ‘Guide to Colleges and Universities’ arms students with information about institutions that go out of their way to give back to our men and women in uniform,” says the MAE’s announcement.

The UW Veterans Services Center (VSC) opened in 2010 with a focus on assisting veterans in making the transition from military to civilian student life. Since then, the VSC accommodates more than 5,600 visitors per year and has expanded its programming to 36 social and academic events and activities for military veterans and military dependent students and families.

The VSC provides a study area, student lounge with a large-screen television, student computer lab, refreshments, and many other student amenities and activities. Martinez, a 29-year retired veteran, has been the UW project coordinator the past two years. He is assisted by three student veterans participating in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ work-study program: Joey Correnti, from the Red Desert area; Aaron Rousey of Purcell, Okla.; and Melody Wilson from Cody.

“I am proud to represent our school and our program to the many military members, veterans and military families that I speak with, and to say with confidence that UW is definitely ‘veteran friendly,'” Martinez adds.

Published 10 times yearly, MAE’s editorial coverage includes exclusive interviews with military executive leadership, educators and members of Congress; reports on best practices, career and transition choices; and offers school and program profiles.

For more information about military or veteran education benefits at UW, call the Veterans Services Center at (307) 766-6908 or email uw-vets@uwyo.edu.

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