UW Tacoma a top school for service members, veterans
UW Tacoma is one of the best places in the country for veterans and active-duty service members to get an education, according to the latest Military Friendly Schools list released by G.I. Jobs.
UW Tacoma’s close proximity to one of the nation’s largest military installations and support services for active service members, veterans and their families place it among the top 15% of American schools doing the most to embrace service members and veterans as students, according to G.I. Jobs.
UW Tacoma is the closest public university campus to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and 10% of UW Tacoma students are veterans or receive military benefits. Expanding services for those students and their families is a top priority for Chancellor Debra Friedman.
“As an urban-serving university, we work hard to be responsive to the communities that surround us, including Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the other military bases in this area,” says Mike Wark, UW Tacoma’s Director of External Relations. “Under the leadership of Chancellor Friedman, we’ve been working this year to enhance the services we provide for active service members, veterans and their families.”
Service members and veterans who wish to attend UW Tacoma can take advantage of the Office of Veteran and Military Services, which helps support and enhance the educational experience for these students. The office helps students access their GI Bill and related benefits, complete paperwork, understand community resources and navigate university admissions.
In addition to the office, the university has launched a number of new initiatives in the past year to support veterans, active military and their families:
- Transition Service Center: UW Tacoma is partnering with JBLM to provide career counseling and academic advising to military personnel, with a focus on raising awareness of public college and university options in Washington.
- Cybersecurity Leadership: UW Tacoma’s Institute of Technology is partnering with Camp Murray, home of the Washington National Guard, to improve educational offerings for the soldiers in their Cybersecurity Unit. The Institute and the Milgard School of Business have developed a new master’s degree in cybersecurity leadership to meet the needs of these students. The new degree is expected to have broad appeal to civilians as well as members of the military. The degree is pending approval of the UW Board of Regents.
- Internships: Civilian student interns from UW Tacoma have begun working at JBLM headquarters this year, serving as valuable links between faculty and the base leadership.
- Entrepreneurial Incubator for Veterans: UW Tacoma is developing an Entrepreneurial Incubator for Veterans that would support start-up businesses by both veterans and the general community in the fields of engineering, computer sciences and life sciences. The university is currently seeking a director for the program.
- Military Spouse programs: The university is developing a Military Spouse Online Entrepreneur program to help military spouses create online businesses focused on serving the needs of military families. UW Tacoma has also formed an advisory group of senior military spouses at JBLM to help develop educational programs and career support for military spouses.
This is the third year UW Tacoma has been included on the Military Friendly Schools list.
The Military Friendly Schools list is based on a poll of 7,000 schools nationwide. G.I. Jobs looked for colleges that offered the greatest opportunity, flexibility and overall experience for veterans and active-duty personnel. Criteria for making the list included efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, results in recruiting and retaining these students and academic accreditation.