Friday, December 8, 2023

UTSA named among the most military friendly schools in the nation

UTSA named among the most military friendly schools in the nation

(May 14, 2018) -- UTSA has received a special national designation for how it treats and takes care of its student veterans. Victory Media recently released its Military Friendly Schools rating, and UTSA is ranked No. 3 in the country among its research peers.

Additionally, UTSA is one of just two Texas higher education institutions that made it to the top 10 in its peer group.

The ranking methodology was based on six categories, each of which UTSA exceeded. Categories included academic policies and compliance, admission and orientation, culture and commitment, financial aid and assistance, graduation and career, and military student support and retention. Notably, UTSA had nearly perfect scores in two areas: academics policies and compliance, and culture and commitment.

“This ranking validates our efforts to help students be successful and to build prosperity in San Antonio; however, there is still more work that needs to be done,” said Lisa Carrington Firmin, UTSA associate provost for veteran and military affairs. “For example, we are currently working on efforts to secure a comprehensive center for military affiliated students.”

Last year, UTSA created the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (VMA). It provides oversight and counsel to the UTSA military community to ease their transition to UTSA and to drive student success. UTSA’s student enrollment includes nearly 4,500 veterans, active duty, guard and reserve, ROTC, dependents and family members.

The VMA office:

  • assists student veterans with the transition to higher education and to UTSA
  • offers vet to vet peer mentoring, and writing assistance via a writing group through the Veteran Success Collaborative program
  • provides student veterans with emergency funds in extreme hardship situations
  • functioned as a one stop hub for the 60 military students activated during the Hurricane Harvey response in Texas

VMA also teams up with community partners. Recent events for student veterans include:

  • a resume writing workshop with Valero
  • a networking luncheon with Wounded Warrior
  • collaboration with the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Alamo Chapter 5 to provide assistance on a monthly basis for UTSA student veterans
  • collaboration with the Student Leadership Center and the Student Veteran Association to host a story telling luncheon
  • collaboration with Campus Rec and Healing Waters Fly Fishing on an initiative for stress down days

“We stepped outside the box to create this office to better serve our military population,” said Firmin. “I see an even stronger commitment to serve student veterans under President Eighmy’s leadership.”

Courtney Clevenger


Learn more about UTSA’s Military Friendly Rating.

Learn more about the UTSA Office of Veteran and Military Affairs.

Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.



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UTSA’s Mission

The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

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UTSA’s Core Values

We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.

UTSA’S Destinations

UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .

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The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.