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A paycheck and covered medical and housing expenses are fantastic military perks; however, veterans agree that one of the biggest benefits from serving is found in the classroom.

��ɫapp was recently ranked on the Military Times’ Best for Vets: Colleges 2020 rankings.

Military Times surveys hundreds of colleges and universities from across the country on their policies related to military and veteran students, academic outcomes, military-supportive culture and many other factors. Kent State was ranked 130.

Being ranked on this list stems from the opportunities Kent State offers at its Center for Adult and Veteran Services (CAVS).

CAVS’ services are geared toward providing a comprehensive and high impact student experience through support, programming and an assurance of the highest standards of federal compliance.

“Best for Vets asks for a lot of hard data numbers,” Joshua Rider, director of CAVS said. “They want to know about class sizes, graduation numbers, persistence and retention rates.”

The survey is geared toward learning how the veteran service members and their dependants are actually performing at the institution in which they are enrolled.

Military Times divides the Best for Vets Colleges into four categories: 4-year schools, 2-year schools, online and nontraditional schools, and career and technical colleges.

“There are hundreds of applicants in each category,” Rider said, “and then to make the list to be in their top 130 is really great.”

CAVS offers a wide array of perks to its veterans and service members ranging from priority registration for classes to a single office that can handle a lot of their concerns.

Statistically, compared to other institutions, Kent State is graduating veterans at a very high rate. Kent State’s military retention rate is 74% and the military graduation rate is 53%.

“We’re getting good retention numbers that are really on par with our traditional students,” Rider said, “which is exciting because there’s more factors that can delay nontraditional students than there are traditional.”

Rider explains that as an eight-campus system, Kent State is “doing it right” with the services in place not only through CAVS but the university as a whole.

Rider explains that this is a direct result of making sure that CAVS students are linked up to existing academic and student support services on campus, and that they’re aware of what’s out there to support them.

“I feel a sense of pride in ��ɫapp in how we foster the success of our student veterans and service members,” Rider said, “both in and out of the classroom.”

CAVS will continue to work hard and collaborate with campus partners to make this a student veteran-ready university.

Learn more about the Center for Adult and Veteren Services at Kent State