The annual Military Friendly® Schools list has ranked Cal State San Bernardino in its Top 10 list of large universities in the nation that provide the best educational services to military and veteran students. The university was the only public university in California to be ranked that high.

“Military friendliness is highly visible at CSUSB,” said Agustin Ramirez, interim director of the university’s Veterans Success Center and a U.S. Navy veteran. “Everything from our resource services, to our cultural events, to our academic programming is openly available to our service members and their dependents, and to all students, faculty and staff.

“Moreover, it demonstrates the level of commitment from our leadership in the Division of Student Affairs, the cooperation among the many departments with whom we collaborate and who maintain military-dedicated staff, and of course, it exhibits the incalculable support of President Tomás D. Morales,” Ramirez said.

The national ranking is the second such designation in the 2017-18 academic year. In late 2017, The Military Times ranked CSUSB 15th in its list of four-year universities.

Compiled  by Victory Media, the ranking was based on how well an institution did in six categories: Military Friendly Standard®, which CSUSB exceeded by 64 percent; Admissions and Orientation, exceeded by 80 percent; Culture and Commitment, exceeded by 97 percent; Financial Aid and Assistance, exceeded by 8 percent; Graduation and Career, exceeded by 40 percent; and Military Student Support and Retention, exceeded by 62 percent.

Beginning with the admissions process through graduation, CSUSB has dedicated staff to guide servicemembers and veterans through each step and answer their questions along the way. The Veterans Success Center specializes in connecting this unique group to the programs and resources designed specifically for them, and it is a welcoming environment where peers from all branches congregate, study and support each other. Throughout the year, the VSC hosts numerous events to honor its servicemembers and veterans and to ensure their continued support.

“I want to stress that it was not through aggressive marketing techniques that we earned this designation,” Ramirez said. “CSUSB is a Top 10 Military Friendly school because of the hard work of our military-dedicated staff, our Student Veterans Organization, our centralized resource center, our liaison and advocacy services, and our institutional practices that promote student success. Current and prospective students can be assured that military friendliness is integrated into our philosophy of student success. Simply put, veteran success is student success.  

“CSUSB has instituted best practices when addressing the needs of service members and their dependents. That does not mean our job is done,” he said. “We will continue to evolve and improve our programming, expand our services, and support best practices that promote student success and career readiness. It is only through this can-do attitude that CSUSB will continue to be ranked a Top Military Friendly campus.”

Military Friendly® awards designations are Top 10, “the best of the best”; gold, within 20 percent of the 10th-ranked institution; silver, within 30 percent of the 10th-ranked institution; bronze, within 40 percent of the 10th-ranked institution; and designated, deemed Military Friendly® based on results of its survey.

Nationally, City University of New York College of Staten Island was ranked No. 1 in the large public university category, followed by Buffalo State College, Eastern Michigan University, Vincennes University in Indiana, University of West Florida, The City College of New York, Palm Beach State College, Tennessee College of Applied Technology, Appalachian State University, and CSUSB.

In California, MiraCosta College (No. 7, large community college), Asher College-Sacramento Campus (No. 5, non-traditional) and National University (No. 9, private, not offering doctorate degrees) earned national top rankings with CSUSB. Regionally, UC Riverside was given a bronze designation among tier 1 research institutions; Crafton Hills College, silver, small community college; the University of La Verne, bronze, private institutions offering doctorate degrees; and Norco College, bronze, large community college.

Within the 23-campus California State University system, earning Military Friendly® designations were Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Marcos (silver), Chico State (bronze), Fresno State, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Northridge and Sacramento State.

For more on how Cal State San Bernardino serves military and veteran students, visit the Military/Veterans Corner website.

Now in its 17th year, the Military Friendly® Schools list has come to set the standard for higher education institutions to provide the best opportunities for veterans and their spouses. This prestigious list provides a comprehensive guide for veterans and their families using data sources from federal agencies, veteran students and proprietary survey information from participating organizations.

Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey completed by the school. Student survey data was also taken into consideration for the designation. More than 1,400 schools participated in the 2018-2019 survey, with 941 schools earning the designation.

The 2018-2019 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine. The list can also be found at militaryfriendly.com.

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.

About Military Friendly® Schools

The Military Friendly® Schools list is created each year based on extensive research using public data sources for more than 8,800 schools nationwide, input from student veterans, and responses to the proprietary, data-driven Military Friendly® Schools survey from participating institutions.

The survey questions, methodology, criteria and weighting were developed with the assistance of an independent research firm and an advisory council of educators and employers. Ernst & Young, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, independently evaluated the scoring methodology used for the Military Friendly® Schools list using the criteria set forth by Victory Media. The services performed by EY were limited to advisory procedures and do not provide assurance over the scoring methodology.

The survey is administered for free and is open to all post-secondary schools that wish to participate. Criteria for consideration can be found at militaryfriendly.com.

About Victory Media

Founded in 2001, Victory Media is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) that connects the military community to civilian employment, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities through its G.I. Jobs® and Military Friendly® brands. Victory Media and its brands are not a part of or endorsed by the U.S. Dept of Defense or any federal government entity.

Learn more about Victory Media at victorymedia.com.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit inside.csusb.edu.