MSU One of Top 50 for Veterans

STARKVILLE, Miss.–Mississippi State is among the top 50 best four-year colleges and universities in the nation for military personnel and veterans.

Listed at No. 34 in “Best for Vets: Colleges 2015,” the rankings were released this week by “Military Times,” an independent news and information source on issues affecting the careers and personal lives of service members and their families. The publication is owned by Gannett Company, Inc., the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S.

In analyzing how Mississippi State and other public and private institutions ranked, “Military Times” compiled data from the U.S. Department of Education, including academic success measures, and gathered responses to surveys. Evaluation also was based on financial assistance provided and quality of student support services.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum said, “Mississippi State is committed to serving our veterans, just as they have served our country. In that spirit, our campus is providing academic and career goal support, career counseling and guidance, job placement assistance and much more to the many veterans and their families who are a part of our university community.”

Keenum specifically pointed to the university’s G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans, serving more than 2,100 student veterans, current service members, dependents and survivors. The center, set to break ground on a new $2.25 million facility in the spring of 2015, works to aid student veterans and their families in transitioning to a college lifestyle and attaining a college education.

Just this month, the center signed a partnership agreement with the U.S. Office of Veterans Affairs and the Jackson VA, making Mississippi State the first university in the nation to offer specialized health services not only to student veterans, but those in local communities as well. The partnership provides for polytrauma services, including mental health services and physical, occupational and speech therapies.

The center also works with the Pat Tillman Foundation to award national Pat Tillman Military Scholarships, honoring the late U.S. Army Ranger and former NFL football player killed in Afghanistan. One of only a handful of universities in the country to offer these scholarships, MSU has been awarding them since 2009.

In addition to on-campus services, Mississippi State has played a prominent role in honoring deceased veterans through the creation of the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Opened in 2011 in Newton County. MSU donated the land for the memorial park.

Keenum said, “Respect for veterans and military service is a part of our genetic makeup as a university,” citing that military science was an integral part of the student experience when Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College opened in 1878 under its first president Stephen D. Lee, a West Point graduate.

Today, Mississippi State offers Air Force ROTC, or Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps, an educational program designed to give students the opportunity to become commissioned officers while completing their undergraduate degree. Army ROTC also is offered and produces lieutenants for the active Army, National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserves.