HOUSTON (March 1, 2012) – For the second year in a row Lone Star College System has been named to the 2012 Military Friendly School list by the G.I. Jobs Military Friendly Schools® team.
The list includes government agencies and private entities that administer education benefits, and a comprehensive survey administered by the G. I. Jobs publication.
The Military Friendly Schools Academic Advisory Panel, consisting of five higher education administrators, helps determine survey questions and weightings to determine which of the 7,000 colleges, universities and trade schools nationwide offer military students and their families the best education and value. The list represents the top 15 percent of schools that are the most Military Friendly.
Criteria for determining the final score include certifications, programs and policies which measures a school’s efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students – financial and non-financial – and a school’s number and percent of military and veteran students enrolled.
“Lone Star College System is proud to be named to the military-friendly list for the last two years,” said Dr. Richard Carpenter, chancellor of LSCS. “We are fiercely committed to helping educate those who have and are continuing to defend our freedom.”
“Lone Star College Faculty goes above and beyond to help out veterans,” said Sgt. Justo Jamies, veteran Lone Star College student at LSC-North Harris. “Since I have been a student, I have seen professors allow soldiers given their orders a chance to test out of the class and get the credits before they deploy.”
LSCS also participates in the Texas College Credit for Heroes program launched by Gov. Rick Perry last July, which gives local military service members and veterans college credit for skills they have mastered in the military.
Overall, seven Texas community colleges were selected to participate in the College Credit for Heroes program. The colleges will provide models for awarding college credit by evaluating military training, including testing and prior learning assessments, which other Texas colleges may replicate. The program will focus on allied health careers, and partner with the Military Education Training Center in San Antonio to provide current active duty service members with an accelerated degree plan.
According to the Texas Veterans Commission, Texas is home to 1.8 million veterans, including 450,000 who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. College Credit for Heroes helps address high unemployment rates that are seen for veterans who served on active duty after September 2001.
“Our veterans are an important asset to our community. They bring a whole new set of skills and knowledge,” said Carpenter. “Lone Star College, along with College Credit for Heroes, can help our veterans go from serving their country afar to graduating with a degree.”
With 75,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, and the fastest-growing community college system in Texas. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, five centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.
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