The University of Northern Iowa has received the highest dedication for veteran-friendly colleges of its size in the U.S. for the third straight year according to a national review.

UNI now holds a top ten and gold ranking, moving up from silver that was awarded to the university last year. The award recognizes the top colleges and universities in the country that embrace veterans and dedicate resources for academic excellence. This is the third year in a row that the university has received this distinction nationally.

Chiquita Loveless, the Director for Military and Veteran Student Services said, “In 2018 we were ‘Designated’ Military Friendly which meant we did not necessarily have all the resources our veterans needed.” 

She continued, “Our veterans deserve the very best, and with that my colleagues and I collaborated to provide additional resources. We reached out and partnered with our community veteran organizations and established scholarships and external resources as well. We listened to our military, veterans, spouses and dependents to ensure we were serving their needs.”

Loveless also pointed out how former military members now turned students should be able to access resources that UNI has to offer to help them adjust from military to civilian lifestyle.