Saint Leo University was selected as one of the Military Times Best: Colleges 2018, the publication announced Monday. Formerly known as Best for Vets, the Military Times Best: Colleges rankings factor in the results of Military Times’ annual survey, the most comprehensive school-by-school assessment of veteran and military student services and rates of academic achievement.
More than 600 colleges took part in this year’s detailed survey. As with all Military Times rankings, Best Colleges 2018 is an editorially independent news project that evaluates the many factors that help make colleges and universities a good fit for service members, military veterans, and their families.
Saint Leo ranked eighth in the country in the Online & Nontraditional Schools category, which recognizes the university’s commitment to educating military personnel, veterans, and their families wherever they may be—even if they are deployed. The top-finishing institutions in the Online & Nontraditional School category have more than half of their students attending class online or in another setting different from the main or regional physical campus setting that is historically typical.
In addition to University Campus in St. Leo, FL, students are educated at more than 35 teaching locations, including many located on military bases. Saint Leo teaches at one of the largest naval bases in the world, Naval Station Norfolk, as well as at other bases in Virginia, Florida, California, Texas, South Carolina, and Mississippi.
“Saint Leo remains committed to educating our active-duty military, veterans, and their families,” said Dr. William J. Lennox Jr., Saint Leo University president. “I am proud of the university’s dedication to the U.S. military. Saint Leo recognizes the special needs of those serving, as well as their families, and the university strives to provide the best educational opportunities for them.”
While hundreds of institutions applied, “fewer than half received the Military Times Best: Colleges designation this year. Only the best made the cut,” said George Altman, the editor in charge of the rankings. “For the past eight years, we’ve seen colleges and universities consistently increasing their resources, revising their policies, and improving their academic outcomes for military and veteran students. The Military Times Best: Colleges rankings showcase the very best of these efforts.”
Military Times’ annual Best Colleges survey asks higher education institutions to document an array of services, special rules, accommodations and financial incentives offered to students with military ties, as well as describe many aspects of veteran culture on a campus. Military Times also factors in data from the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments, as well as three Education Department sources: the IPEDS Data Center, College Scorecard data and the Cohort Default Rate Database.
The rankings are published in a Military Times magazine sent to subscribers the week of November 20, as well as online at MilitaryTimes.com, ArmyTimes.com, NavyTimes.com, AirForceTimes.com, and MarineCorpsTimes.com.
For more information about Saint Leo University’s commitment to the U.S. military forces and veterans, contact Pamela Martis, associate vice president of Military Affairs and Services, at pamela.martis@saintleo.edu or (352) 588-8234.
About Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University (www.saintleo.edu) is a modern Catholic teaching university that is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and the timeless Benedictine wisdom that seeks balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit. The Saint Leo University of today is a private, nonprofit institution that creates hospitable learning communities wherever students want to be or need to be, whether that is a campus classroom, a web-based environment, an employer’s worksite, a military base, or an office park. Saint Leo welcomes people of all faiths and of no religious affiliation, and encourages learners of all generations. The university is committed to providing educational opportunities to the nation’s armed forces, veterans, and their families. Saint Leo is regionally accredited to award degrees ranging from the associate to the doctorate, and the faculty and staff guide all students to develop their capacities for critical thinking, moral reflection, and lifelong learning and leadership.
The university remains the faithful steward of the beautiful lakeside University Campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, where its founding monks created the first Catholic college in the state in 1889. Serving more than 13,000 students, Saint Leo has expanded to downtown Tampa, to other sites in Florida and beyond, and maintains a physical presence in seven states. The university provides highly respected online learning programs to students nationally and internationally. More than 90,000 alumni reside in all 50 states, in Washington, DC, in three U.S. territories, and in 76 countries.
