Campus Connection

UWL earns gold rating for supporting military students

UW-La Crosse is among the most military friendly schools in the country, according to the 2022-23 Military Friendly Schools survey.

UWL earned a gold designation for 2022-23, an improvement over the silver received in 2021-22 and the bronze received in 2020-21.

Jane Brannan, UWL’s veterans education benefits coordinator, says the rating underscores the university’s growing commitment to student veterans and their families.

“The Military Friendly School designation affirms our institutional services and support for student veterans and military family members,” Brannan says. “They are valued students and members of the campus community, and our entire university plays a role in serving and supporting them.”

UWL’s student body includes about 175 veterans and about 175 military family members. Many of the former have recently returned from deployments around the world.

UWL serves these students in a number of ways, including through the Veterans Lounge in the Student Union — a place where veterans can relax, study, receive benefits information and connect with other veterans.

Nationwide, more than1,800 schools participated in this year’s Military Friendly Schools survey. They were evaluated using survey results and public data, with particular emphasis on student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence, and loan default rates for all students and student veterans specifically.

The full results will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.

This is the second distinction UWL has received in the past several months regarding student veterans and military members.

Last fall, the ROTC Eagle Battalion was named the best ROTC Battalion in the Midwest’s 3rd Brigade. The region includes 42 military science programs in all sizes of colleges in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.