SUNY Orange has earned a Military Friendly® Silver School designation for the 2023-24 academic year, placing the College among the nation’s top 20% of higher education institutions in the rankings produced annually by Viqtory Media.
It marks the fourth year in a row, and eighth time in the past 11 years, that the College has earned a Military Friendly® designation. It is SUNY Orange’s second Silver designation, following a similar commendation in 2018-19.
Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2023-2024 survey with 665 earning special awards for going above the standards. The 2023-2024 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in the May and October issues of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.
Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by Viqtory 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.
“I’m so pleased that SUNY Orange has earned a Military Friendly® designation again this year, and proud to say our College is among the nation’s top 20 percent of institutions that best support veterans,” said Dr. Kristine Young, SUNY Orange president. “It speaks to the College’s commitment to serving our active duty, reserve and veteran students, as well as spouses and dependents. We have developed an array of services to help veterans utilize their military benefits, successfully return to college life and succeed in the classroom. We greatly value our veteran students’ service to our country and their contributions to our College community.”
Kayla Lopez, national director of military partnerships for Military Friendly®, said, “Military Friendly® is committed to transparency and providing consistent data-driven standards in our designation process. Our standards provide a benchmark that promotes positive outcomes and support services that better the educational landscape and provide opportunity for the Military Community. This creates a competitive atmosphere that encourages colleges to evolve and invest in their programs consistently. Schools who achieve awards designation show true commitment in their efforts, going over and above that standard.”
SUNY Orange was also listed as a Military Friendly® school in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
