Victory Media, the publisher of G.I. Jobs, STEM Job and Military Spouse, has named Kent State a Military Friendly School for the seventh consecutive year.

Kent State is in the top 20 percent of schools across the country that are recognized for their assistance of helping veterans throughout their college career.

“We have about 400 veterans, an additional 100 military service members— those are National Guard students who have not been deployed. Then there’s an additional, probably, 50 people that are dependents of veterans,” said Dawn Plug, assistant director of Adult and Veteran Services.

According to Military Friendly’s website, there are 63 Ohio colleges and universities listed as Military Friendly. Kent State is rated by Victory Media based on their ability to recruit and retain veterans as students.

The Military Friendly advisory board evaluates other aspects before giving a college or university the distinction of being a Military Friendly School. The board evaluates topics such as military support on campus, student retention rates, veteran employment and graduation.

“Our office tries to act as a one-stop shop for the veterans so we are not bouncing them all over campus to get answers to their questions, problems or concerns. We do help troubleshoot a lot of issues for veterans,” Plug said.

The Center for Adult and Veteran Services (CAVS) has contacts in various departments around campus to better help veterans, Plug said. CAVS can help connect students with departments to help with issues such as parking, classroom problems, tutoring needs and getting immunization records to health services.

According to the CAVS website, there are many programs and services Kent State offers to assist veterans coming to Kent or veterans who are attending Kent. The Kent State Veterans club meets the first and third Wednesday of each month at the Kent Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The CAVS office provides VA Benefit Certification and other services to assist students with their college career.

“We (partner) with outside agencies for veterans, such as the Portage County Veteran Service Organization,” Plug said. “We work closely with Portage Country to connect veterans with resources outside of education.”

Kent State’s regional campuses also offer assistance for veterans attending regional campuses. Victory Media also recognized Kent State Tuscarawas for the fifth year and Kent State Ashtabula for the fourth year as Military Friendly Schools.

“This honor indicates that as a university community we are serving our student veterans, service members and their families at a very high level,” said Joshua Rider, director of Center for Adult and Veteran Service in a university press release. “It’s the university’s duty, but also a privilege to assist these military connected students on their path toward graduation and success.”

Lauren Phillips is the military and veterans reporter. Contact her at [email protected].