Continued commitment to the success of military-affiliated students has led to the university’s tenth consecutive Gold distinction in the annual Military Friendly schools rankings. This year, UCCS achieved its highest-ever ranking, placing second of the overall top ten in the category of Large Public institutions. UCCS was also recognized as a Top Ten Military Spouse Friendly school, placing eighth.

UCCS was awarded a Gold ranking in Military Friendly’s standards in six categories, including academic policies and compliance, admissions and orientation, culture and commitment, financial aid and assistance, graduation and career, and military student support and retention. UCCS also offers scholarships such as the HEROES fund for active-duty military. UCCS has been recognized as a Military Friendly school each year since 2016.

Military Spouse Friendly schools are noted for instituting policies to address the concerns and needs of military spouses and their families. They have constructed their admissions, retention, career counseling and mentoring programs to help alleviate the difficulties faced by military spouses. They also offer flexible learning options and degree continuation programs that are designed to accommodate deployments and relocation. 

Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation are evaluated using both public data
sources and responses from a proprietary survey.

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.

UCCS is proud to offer the HEROES (Hometown Education Resources & Opportunities Empowering Servicemembers) Scholarship, established to support active-duty members of the U.S. military enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at UCCS. The scholarship supplements the gap between the total cost of attendance and a student’s military tuition assistance (TA). While TA benefits are available to help active-duty military reach their educational goals, often that financial boost is not enough to cover full tuition. Out-of-pocket costs can be a barrier for students wishing to go to college while fulfilling military obligations and, often, taking care of family members. This scholarship helps broaden access to higher education by bridging the gap between TA benefits and total attendance costs.

If you’re interested in helping support higher education opportunities for our active-duty military, please consider donating here.

Learn more about student veteran programs at UCCS at military.uccs.edu.