Cumberlands awarded Gold status as Military Friendly® School for 2022-2023 academic year

University of the Cumberlands was awarded Gold status in the recent listing of 2022-2023 Military Friendly® Schools. Approximately one-fourth of all private schools offering doctoral programs received Gold status. Across the nation, only 28 private schools offering doctoral programs received Military Friendly® Gold status for the 2022-2023 cycle.

This is the second consecutive year for Cumberlands to receive designation as a Military Friendly® School. The university was ranked No. 7 in the nation among private colleges offering doctoral programs in the 2021-2022 cycle. It was also named a Military Friendly® Spouse School for that cycle.

Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey that is administered for free and open to all postsecondary schools who wish to participate.

More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2022-2023 survey, with 665 schools (roughly 37 percent) earning this designation.

“Cumberlands puts a high priority on offering the men and women of the U.S. military – both those actively serving in the military as well as veterans – a high-quality education at a fraction of the cost,” said Dr. Emily Coleman, provost for the university. “We have spent years coordinating our programs and financial aid to align with this mission, and we continually tailor our systems as needed. We’re happy to have received this recognition from Military Friendly again, and we are thankful to all of our nation’s military for their service.”

At Cumberlands, military personnel and veterans may matriculate an associate degree up to a doctoral degree entirely online.

The university accepts all VA benefits as well as Tuition Assistance benefits. The school also offers discounted tuition prices for select master’s programs. Students from every branch of the armed forces are currently enrolled at Cumberlands.

Ethan Comer is a junior at Cumberlands who is earning his bachelor’s degree on campus. He is a second lieutenant in the National Guard who transferred to Cumberlands after completing two years at a junior military college.

When he arrived on Cumberlands’ campus, especially after receiving military training that instilled greater initiative and responsibility in him, he assumed that he would need to take the responsibility handle all his finances, paperwork, and other details by himself when he transferred.

He has been relieved of that responsibility, though as Cumberlands has a liaison specifically for that.

“There’s a guy here named Russell Carr who takes care of all of that for me. He stays up to date on what paperwork needs signed, where it needs sent, everything. It has been extremely beneficial,” said Comer. “I don’t have any problems or concerns of whether my money from the National Guard is coming in; there’s somebody already checking on that. I came to Cumberlands thinking there was this load I would have to carry, that I would have to do x, y, and z. Having that person who is a liaison is a huge weight off my shoulders.”

A total of 665 schools earned award level designations in “Gold,” “Silver” or “Bronze.” The University of the Cumberlands was one of 282 schools in the country that were selected for “Gold” award status, according to the militaryfriendly.com website.

Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by VIQTORY with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in higher education.

Final ratings were determined by combining the institutions’ survey responses and government/agency public data sources within a logic-based assessment. Military Friendly® measures schools’ ability to meet thresholds for retention, graduation, job placement, repayment, persistence, and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.

Military Friendly® is owned and operated by VIQTORY, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business. For more information on Military Friendly® Schools, visit www.militaryfriendly.com/schools/.

In addition, Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond has been ranked as the third most Military FriendlyⓇ School in the country.

“EKU is committed to the belief that veterans and military service members offer a unique cultural and social perspective to our campus community,” said EKU President David McFaddin. “We are proud that our continuous investment in the programs offered through our Office of Military and Veterans Affairs is being recognized once again.”

EKU is home to nearly 1,500 veterans, active-duty service members, Reserve/National Guard members and military spouses and children.