Syracuse was named one of the top 10 best cities in the nation for veterans to come and earn their college degrees. Hiring Our Heroes conducted a survey of cities with good access to colleges with veterans programs, as well as graduation rates and job opportunities. Syracuse placed 7th on the list.
Le Moyne College is one of the places where veterans are transitioning from the military. Michael Venditte helped start the Student Veteran Association at Le Moyne. He says education is very different than the military, where you are told when to wake up, how to dress, and what to do all the time.
“You have to re-learn the management, you have to re learn the self-management of rather than relying on the way things used to be and also things are laid out for you. So I would say one of the issues would be re adjusting to having that sort of things prompt to you daily to getting the things done that you need to.”
LeMoyne is considered a Yellow Ribbon college, where veterans can get free tuition due to the G-I Bill. Veterans Services Coordinator Jennifer Reddy says supportive services and the college’s size might be comfortable for someone just out of the military.
“What’s good about coming to Le Moyne is we do have pretty small classes and veterans can get sort of personalized attention, can get to know faculty members. I think it makes the transition a little bit easier.”
She finds health professions, such as physician’s assistant and nursing are popular with vets, as are business, education and history programs.
USAA/HIRING OUR HEROES TOP 10 CITIES FOR VETERANS EDUCATION
| 6. Killeen, Texas 7. Syracuse, N.Y. 8. Greenville, N.C. 9. Salt Lake City 10. Columbia, S.C. |
The Syracuse area placed seventh on the Hiring our Heroes Top Ten list, which President Eric Eversole explains rated the help most veterans look for.
“Entrepreneurship because we know a lot of service members look for entrepreneurial opportunities, career opportunities, which is a second category; and third, we know many service members and their family members go to school after transitioning. This survey of best places really mimics that process, so they should be very familiar with it.”
Eversole praised Le Moyne’s programs and Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and MilitaryFamilies. Both schools offer help navigating benefits. Step-by-step help for transitioning veterans is at Hire-our-heroes-dot-org
