Quincy Sun // Published November 28, 2016 // By Quincy Sun Staff

For the sixth consecutive year, Quincy College has been named a 2017 Military Friendly School by Victory Media, the leader in successfully connecting the military and civilian worlds. The Military Friendly® Schools designation is awarded to the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools in the country that are doing the most to embrace military students, and to dedicate resources to ensure their success in the classroom and after graduation.

Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from Victory Media’s proprietary survey. More than 1,700 schools participated in the 2017 survey; 1,273 were awarded with the designation. Ratings methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by Victory Media with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution’s survey scores with the assessment of the institution’s ability to meet thresholds for Student Retention, Graduation, Job Placement, Loan Repayment, Persistence (Degree Advancement or Transfer) and Loan Default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.

Daniel Nichols, a Navy Reserve veteran and Chief Product Officer at Victory Media spoke about the 2017 designations in a recent Victory Media press release: “Our ability to apply a clear, consistent standard to the majority of colleges gives veterans a comprehensive view of which schools are striving to provide the best opportunities and conditions for our nation’s student veterans. Military Friendly® helps military families make the best use of the Post-9/11 GI Bill and other federal benefits while allowing us to further our goal of assisting them in finding success in their chosen career fields.”

Above and beyond the 2017 Military Friendly designation, Quincy College remains committed to continually improving the education experience provided to those students who have sacrificed in service to their country.

“The Military and Veteran’s Services Office is honored to support our veterans and we are honored to be recognized by Victory Media for a sixth year in a row. We continually evaluate our programs and assess the needs of our students, providing one-on-one support. This past fall, we organized a campus wide 22-pushup event on both the Quincy and Plymouth campuses to engage not only our veteran students but our community as a whole to bring light to suicide awareness. Our mission for our veteran students is to make the transition and college experience as easy and comfortable as possible. We look forward to continuing to serve the Quincy College community of veterans in 2017 with honor and commitment they deserve,” stated Chris Breton, Military and Veteran’s Services Specialist for Quincy College Military and Veteran’s Services Department in Quincy.

Quincy College offers veteran support on both the Quincy and Plymouth campuses. Students on the Plymouth Campus can schedule an appointment to meet with Karen Connick, Academic Services Specialist for Quincy College veteran and dependent support. Connick who started at Quincy College this Summer is a Colonel in the United State Army Reserve and is currently serving at Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island.

Connick reflects on her position at Quincy College at Plymouth: “It’s been a pleasure to work at Quincy College and work with the Plymouth student population to not only continue to recognize and support their pursuit of higher education but continue to support and honor their service. One such way we continue to honor our veteran students and the community of veteran faculty and staff is to host Veteran Day luncheon’s, post Veteran student names in the hall way in the weeks leading up to Veteran’s Day, and also honor the community of South Shore veterans by hosting a Memorial Day event each year. We are committed to supporting the veteran community on campus. The Victory Media designation reflects what how we conduct ourselves on a daily basis.”

Through the Quincy College Veterans Discount Program, veterans may enroll in either Liberal Arts or Professional Programs classes at a discounted rate. Veterans are eligible for this reduced rate regardless of the number of courses they take in a semester. The veteran discount program is not funded by the state or federal government; therefore veterans who are eligible for education benefits through the VA may also receive the Quincy College discounted rate.

Quincy College advisors are uniquely adept at addressing the needs of veteran students and their dependents by reviewing both military and college transcripts, as well as CLEP and DANTES exam scores, for transfer credit according to American Council of Education (ACE) recommendations. Veterans, veteran dependents, and active duty service members are able to use their federal education benefits at Quincy College including: Post 9/11 GI Bill, Montgomery GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation, My CAA, VA Work Study and Tuition Assistance at Quincy College.

For more information about Quincy College’s commitment to attracting and supporting military students and their dependents, visit Quincy College’s website at http://www.quincycollege.edu/departments/military-veteran-affairs.