Cal State San Bernardino has once again been named a Military Friendly® School for 2022-23 with a gold ranking under the large public university category.

CSUSB, which also earned gold for 2021-22, is the only California State University to rank gold. Only five other CSUs join CSUSB on the list, which include Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Channel Islands, Cal State Chico and Cal State Long Beach all with silver; and Cal State Northridge with bronze.

Agustin Ramirez, director of the university’s Veterans Success Center, acknowledges that the list of colleges that compete in the Military Friendly campaign keeps expanding annually. With competition growing over the years, he says maintaining gold standing can be a challenge, but they continue to work hard to remain on top.

“To keep ahead of other schools, we work closely with our colleagues in Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid, College of Extended and Global Education, and Student Financial Services to offer our student veterans a seamless transition to CSUSB,” he said. “We seem to have the magic formula: In addition to the dedicated space for veterans at both San Bernardino and Palm Desert, affordability and cutting-edge academic programs contribute to our success. Friendly and accessible faculty and staff make CSUSB an attractive campus for our students and potential students.”

Institutions earning the Military Friendly® Schools Top Awards were evaluated using public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. Over 1,800 schools participated in the 2022-23 survey; 665 schools earned awards level designations in gold, silver and bronze; and of those, 282 were selected for gold award status for their leading practices, outcomes and effective programs.

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 institution’s survey responses and government/agency public data sources within a logic-based scoring assessment. Military Friendly® measures the institution’s ability to meet and exceed thresholds for retention, graduation, job placement, repayment, persistence and loan default rates for all students, and specifically, for student veterans.

“Military Friendly® is committed to transparency and providing consistent data-driven standards in our process,” said Kayla Lopez, director of Military Partnerships, Military Friendly®. “This creates a competitive atmosphere that encourages institutions to consistently evolve and support their programs. Award level schools have gone beyond that standard, showing true commitment and dedication in their efforts. The Military Friendly® benchmark promotes positive educational outcomes and support services that better the educational landscape and provide opportunity for the Military Community.”

The 2022-­23 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in G.I. Jobs magazine’s May issue and can be found at the 2022-2023 Military Friendly® Schools webpage.

About Military Friendly® Schools
The Military Friendly® Schools list is created annually based on extensive research using public data sources for more than 8,800 schools, and responses to the proprietary, Military Friendly® Schools survey. Survey questions, methodology, criteria and weighting were developed with the assistance from an independent research firm and advisory council of educators. It is administered for free and open to all post­secondary schools wanting to participate and receive award recognition in Gold, Silver or Bronze categories. Visit the Military Friendly® website for more information.

About the CSUSB Veterans Success Center
The CSUSB Veterans Success Center offers dynamic programs that are comprehensive in scope and sensitive to the unique needs of service members, which includes: new student veterans’ orientation; a monthly seminar series; weekly mental health support group; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) tutoring; SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society; veterans’ graduation celebration; complimentary printing; free test taking materials; advocacy and referral services; complimentary arts and crafts; and a military veterans writers group. Visit the Veterans Success Center website for more information.