HAMMOND – For the ninth consecutive year, Southeastern Louisiana University has been named a Military Friendly® School for 2021-2022.
Viqtory Media, publisher of “G.I. Jobs,” states the listing honors the top colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace the nation’s military service members, veterans, and spouses as students and to ensure their success on campus.
“Southeastern’s consistent listing shows our continued commitment to serve active military, veterans and their families,” said President John L. Crain. “As always, we are proud to receive this recognition, as it places us among some of the top universities in the nation, but more importantly we know it means we are doing our best to serve those who have made many sacrifices in service to our nation.”
Southeastern enrolls 557 veteran and military service members. The university maintains a Veterans Upward Bound program; has an Office of Military and Veteran Success that assists students in obtaining benefits and with other issues; provides academic and other counseling services; offers scholarships specifically for military students and veterans; and maintains a wide range of online and distance learning programs that provide students with flexibility in scheduling.
Southeastern’s ROTC program, which is a sub-unit of the Southern University Army ROTC program, returned to Hammond in 2016 after more than a 20-year hiatus. Fifty-five students now participate in the program.
Southeastern also serves as a resource center for thousands of Louisiana veterans in an effort to help active-duty military service men and women successfully transition to college through a new program called LaVetCorps.
Additionally, Southeastern now has an Office of Military and Veteran Success. The new office includes two college employees, a LAVetCorps employee and six veteran ambassadors. The center offers help with academic advising related to VA education benefits, processing VA education benefits, counseling on VA education benefits, programs, events, and priority registration.
“Southeastern has made a concerted effort in the past several years to focus on military service members, veterans and their families,” said Director of Military and Veteran Success Matt Watkins, a U.S. Air Force Veteran. “Southeastern has created innovative programming, services, events and resources for our veterans, dependents and military population. All of our staff members feel there is no greater calling than serving those who have served us.”
A recent addition to campus is the Southeastern Student Veterans and Military Interest Association, a group open to veterans, reservists, spouses, dependents, and ROTC participants attending both Southeastern and Northshore Technical Community College. The association was founded to help the school administration better understand and meet the needs of veterans; offer advice from experienced to incoming veterans; help civilians better understand the military experience; and provide opportunities for veterans to meet one another and connect.
Institutions competed for inclusion on the Military Friendly Schools list based on such categories as military support on campus, graduation and employment outcomes and career and job counseling services. The firm Ernst and Young independently tested the data provided by schools.
The 2021 list of Military Friendly Schools shows the commitment of those institutions in providing a supportive environment for military students, the company said in announcing the list.
Viqtory Media is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business founded in 2001. In addition to “G.I. Jobs,” the company also publishes the magazine “Military Spouse.”
