USC ranks no.1 for veterans and military service members
The University of South Carolina has been ranked number one in the country for veterans and military service members.
COLUMBIA, SC. (WOLO) – The University of South Carolina has been ranked number one in the country for veterans and military service members. The honor comes from the 2022 Military Times Best for Vets: College Rankings.
According to the Jared Evans, who is the Executive Director of USC Veterans and Military Affairs, a big contribution to receiving the honor is the opening of the veterans and military center of excellence on campus which has transformed the way the university supports the military student population. “We have a lot of veterans that come into the center who may have questions about their GI bill, hear another veteran talking about something else and then they go down that path with them and get support, or get connected whether that’s with an employer or maybe they’re looking to volunteer around the community.”
The university has implemented several policies, programs, and partnerships to support and engage with the military population.
“We also implemented a policy two years ago for any South Carolina resident that graduates that decides they want to enlist in the military and after two years of service they can be admitted to the university without having to submit any entrance exam scores sat act scores,” says Evans.
Since 2018 the military population has grown by 30 percent and with this ranking Evans is expecting it to grow even more.
“We have approximately 2,000 military affiliate students on campus and we recognize the value they bring to the university they excel academically, they increase diversity and enrollment, and minority representation and then they also graduate little to no debt using their VA benefits and their military benefits, its called tuition assistance. So they really just enrich campus culture and excel in every metric that we as university and higher ed. use to measure success,” says Evans.
