Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been selected as a Military Friendly Spouse School designation by Victory Media.
Institutions are chosen for the designation based on student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer), and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans. More than 1,200 schools were considered for the rankings.
This recognition follows a March announcement of IUP's selection for a Gold Designation by Victory Media in its 2021 Military Friendly School ranking.
IUP is one of only 162 universities in nation and one of only six in Pennsylvania selected for “Gold Award” status. A total of 1,200 colleges and universities were considered for the Military Friendly School ranking, and less than 750 schools earned a spot in the rankings.
IUP has been on the Military Friendly Schools list for seven years.
Institutions selected for the Military Friendly School ranking were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. Universities were judged in several categories, including student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer), and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans. Criteria for the list also includes efforts to recruit and retain students who are veterans or in the military, success in recruiting those students, and academic accreditations.
IUP's Military and Veterans Resource Center, opened in 2014, works collaboratively with IUP programs and services, serving as a one-stop information and referral site to help students transition to college life and achieve their academic goals. The Veterans Affairs Benefits Office was moved into the Center in 2016.
The Center also has a goal of increasing campus awareness of student veteran issues and fosters a sense of camaraderie, community, and well-being for all veterans, military-affiliated students, and their families.
Annually, about 1,000 veterans or military-affiliated students, or about 9 percent of the student body, are studying at the university. Since fall 2014, IUP has increased the enrollment of veterans and military-affiliated students by almost 70 percent.