UTA celebrated for its commitment to veterans
The University of Texas at Arlington has been recognized once more for its intentional efforts to support veteran students and military-connected family members looking to meet their higher education goals. UTA has been named a Gold Level Military-Friendly® School for 2024-25.
"UTA's commitment to our veterans isn't just about recognition; it's about creating an environment where their service, dedication and unique perspectives are not only respected, but celebrated,” said James Kumm, executive director of military and veteran services. “Our ongoing dedication to supporting veterans in their academic pursuits and career readiness embodies UTA’s unwavering commitment to the excellence of our students. Awards such as this serve as a way for us to indicate to veterans that we care about their continued learning and ongoing success."
Guided by the principles of collaborative partnerships across the UTA campus and DFW community, the Office of Military and Veteran Services has a mission to recruit, retain, educate and graduate military-connected students seeking to better themselves through the pursuit of higher education.
One such student is Tamekia Brookins, who served 17 years in the U.S. Navy before arriving at UTA in 2020. She decided to attend UTA because she wanted to be on a campus that cares for student veterans and knew that if a school was top tier in this area, then everything, including academics, would be just as great.
“It's almost like I never left the Navy,” she said. “We come together and do things to support each other and spend time together in and outside of the University. UTA has done a wonderful job of reaching out to the community to help support us in various ways that are unique to the veteran sector of being a student.”
This year’s Military-Friendly® ranking comes on the heels of back-to-back top 10 rankings in 2022-23 and 2023-24. In addition, UTA was named the nation’s top public university for military service members and veterans and No. 2 among all universities on the 2023 Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges list, the latter being a jump up from its previous No. 4 ranking on the publication’s 2022 list.