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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah on Wednesday announced that it has earned the Military Friendly School designation, a prestigious distinction recognizing how closely the institution works with the U.S. military.
The university is one of nine tier 1 research institutions to achieve gold status under the ranking system.
The designation is the latest cog in a movement encouraging collaboration between Utah's flagship university and the military. In November, the U.'s College of Engineering struck up an educational partnership with the U.S. Air Force and Hill Air Force Base.
"This new partnership will provide even more opportunities for hands-on experience and will create top-of-mind awareness for our students of the career possibilities of the base," U. College of Engineering Dean Richard Brown said at the time. "It will also facilitate educational opportunities for base personnel through online and customized learning experiences."
Along with educational and career opportunities for both University of Utah students and Hill Air Force Base personnel, the partnership will allow for collaborative research between the Air Force and the U.'s faculty on a wide range of topics, including data analytics, robotics, machine learning for materials discovery, prosthetics, nuclear engineering, additive manufacturing and more.
Additionally, Air Force personnel will work with the U. on developing new educational programs and will make laboratory personnel available to teach courses.
The U. was selected as a Military Friendly School through a survey — the longest-running and most comprehensive review of college and university investments in serving military and veteran students.
Methodology, criteria and weightings for the survey were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community, according to a release from the U.
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.
"This is an exciting and important achievement as we work to increase understanding of and support for our military-connected community at the University of Utah," said Fa'ama'i Taupa'u, director of the U.'s Veterans Support Center, in a statement. "Many student-veterans use the Military Friendly Schools list to help them decide where to go to school and we're proud the U. will now be near the top."
The Veterans Support Center serves veterans, military-connected members and their families at the U.
"We enhance the educational experience of military-affiliated students to remove barriers and maximize the academic, psychosocial and career potentials that results in unconditional success in the classroom and beyond," the Veterans Support Center website states.
The comprehensive 2023-24 Military Friendly Schools list will be published in the May and October issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found here.
