Your Guide to Military Friendly® School Survey
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Military Friendly® School
It’s your time to find out how your school stacks against schools in your category. Get started by clicking below.
What is the deadline or survey timeline?
Annually the survey opens for registration in July, Links are distributed in August and the initial deadline is the third Wednesday of December. We accept rolling submissions for Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Designated awards after the December deadline until we close the survey on the third Wednesday of June. Editorial cut offs are as follows.
1st Deadline: December (Third Wednesday of the month) – Top Ten Determinations
2nd Deadline: January (Third Wednesday of the month) – inclusion in MFS Guide 1.0
Soft Close: February (Third Wednesday of the month)-inclusion in MFS Guide 2.0
Hard/Final Close: June (Third Wednesday of the month)- Web Listing
I need assistance with the questions within the Military Friendly® Schools Survey
Please visit our step by step tutorial and help course for questions around survey responses and reporting data.
I need assistance with metric definitions
Please visit the help course to find information on how to pull and report your metrics for student outcomes. If you cannot find answers to metics in this area, please use the standard definitions from IPEDS and/or the Department of Education.
Award category information and definitions
Award categories are based on Carnegie Classifications. Please do not choose categories that do not identify on how your school is categorized by the Department of Education.
Embargo Dates & Logo Release Dates
Timeline
2025-2026 Military Friendly® Schools
Current Cycle:
Initial Deadline for Top 10:
December 18, 2024
Methodology
The list of Military Friendly® Schools and Military Spouse Friendly Schools® ratings are assessed through the evaluation of both public data about the institution and proprietary data gathered through our free Military Friendly® Schools survey. The annual, data-driven Military Friendly® Schools survey assessment is offered at no cost to more than 8,800 institutions nationwide. Each year, schools taking the survey are held to a higher standard than in previous years via improved methodology, criteria and weightings developed with the assistance of an independent research firm and our Advisory Council.
Survey responses are weighted according to the categories here. Final survey results and ratings are determined by combining an institution’s survey scores with the assessment of the institution’s ability to meet minimum thresholds for Student Retention, Graduation, Job Placement, Loan Repayment and Loan Default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.
We use a third party platform for the execution and audit of our scoring and methodology used for the Military Friendly® Schools list using the criteria set forth by VIQTORY.
The Process
Qualifications
Military Friendly® Schools designation requires the following:
- Accreditation and federal programs must be in good standing
- Must meet or exceed minimum standards in the Metrical Benchmarks
- Clear of any federal flags or have not been cited in any state or federal law enforcement actions
- No more than five veteran complaints or 5% of the student veteran population, whichever is greater, registered against the school in the VA’s GI Bill comparison tool. Schools exceeding the complaint threshold may request a survey for their Veteran students and receive 20% of the student surveys back with a positive net-promoter score.
- If your institution does not meet this criteria you are not eligible for an award.
- If your survey is received after the initial December deadline, you do not qualify for Top 10 selection.
- If you fail to provide at least 3 of the qualified metrical benchmarks requested, your survey will not qualify for evaluation. At that time, you will be required to resubmit with at minimum of 3 qualified benchmarks.
Military Friendly® reserves the right to revoke or remove designation status at anytime with reasonable cause. Schools will be notified and asked to petition before being removed.
Metical Benchmarks Qualifications
One of the most important components of the Survey is meeting the metrical benchmarks. Many institutions fall short or do not even fill this sections out.
An institution must meet at least 3 of the benchmarks below:
– Graduation rate for all students or veteran students alone is 50% or higher
– Graduation rate for all veteran students is greater than non-military students
– 1 year retention rate for all students or veteran students alone is 50% or higher
– 2 year retention rate for all students or veteran students alone is 50% or higher
– Retention rate for all veteran students is greater than non-military students
– Loan default rate for all students or veteran students alone is 20% or lower
– Job placement rate for all students or veteran students alone is 50% or higher
– Job placement rate for all veteran students is greater than non-military students
– Transfer rate for all students or veteran students alone is 50% or higher (community colleges)
– Transfer rate for all veteran students is greater than non-military students (community colleges)
– Transfer rate for all students or veteran students alone is 20% or lower
Public Data Sources
We use public data sources to check that the institution has three or more of the following federal programs in operation and good standing:
- Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (provision of the Post-9/11 GI Bill)
- Official commitment to the Eight Keys to Veterans’ Success
- VA’s Principles of Excellence
- Federal Financial Aid Shopping Sheet
- Armed Forces Tuition Assistance (TA) Funding
- DoD Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Tuition Assistance
- Veteran Success on Campus (VSOC) Program
Finally, we use public data sources to check that the institution does not have any federal precautionary flags against it, such as those listed below.
- The number of veteran student complaints reported by the VA is greater than or equal to 5% of total enrolled veterans at the school.
- The institution is currently or was under one or more federal precautionary flags within the last 12 months.
- The institution’s accreditation has not been suspended.
- The institution’s federal programs have not been suspended.
- Includes outcome data from the Department of Educations and IPEDS, college scorecard report and College Navigator.
- HCM and Financial Violation Data, FSA.
- Cohort Default Rates from last know and reported fiscal year, FSA.
- Accreditation, OPE, ongoing collection.
Got Questions?
Understand Your Designation
Helpful Links
Why your score may have changed.
Want to understand why your score is lower this year or why your designation status has changed?
Lower Score
There is a multitude of reason why your designation my have dropped or you are ranked lower this year than last. This section will go over some of the reasons why your status may be lower this year.
- Incorrect scoring category may have been selected
- This adjustment is a result of how we rank institutions. To understand how institutional ranking work, please visit the results and summary section on the response PDF you were provided when your survey is submitted.
- Your Metrical Benchmarks are lower this year than last:
- Metrical Benchmarks play a pivotal role in your designation. To learn more about these benchmarks please see our Bencharks Section
- Your institution failed to provide at least 3 of the qualified benchmarks:
- In order to encourage institutions to continuously improve their military programs, our algorithm accounts for continued progression and advancement of your metrics.
It is pivotal to provide at least 3 qualified benchmarks in order for the algorithm to work.
Not Friendly
Find out how to expand and improve your military program and ensure you meet requirements of the survey.
Here are the most common reasons why institutions receive the not-friendly designation:
- Incomplete
- Countless institutions do not complete their survey. Make sure you download and recieve your insitutions response PDF at the conclusion of the survey. This is your official confirmation of reciept.
- Extensions will not be accepted under any circumstances for Top 10 selection or after the final annual close. If you find yourself stuck on a question please go to https://training.militaryfriendly.com/courses/mfs-survey-question-help.
- Metrical benchmarks
- One of the most important components of the Survey is meeting the metrical benchmarks. Many institutions fall short or do not even fill this sections out. An institution must meet at least 3 of the qualified benchmarks. Visit the Metrics Section.
- Failure to provide institutions ID numbers
- If you do not provide the correct ID numbers for your institution, the public data evaluation will reject your submission and you will be disqualified.
- IPEDS code
- VA Facility code
- ED OPE code
- OPEID
- If you do not provide the correct ID numbers for your institution, the public data evaluation will reject your submission and you will be disqualified.
- Federal Caution Flags
- If Federal Caution Flags are found via public databases your institution will be disqualified. If you provide invalid ID numbers and a flag is found with an associated campus all campuses in the system will be disqualified. If valid IDs are provided and a single campus is flagged, only that campus will be disqualified. You can see if your institution is flagged on https://www.vets.gov/gi-bill-comparison-tool. If you do not believe that your institution should have these flags, contact the VA directly.
- You can also find if you are on the HCM list via the Dept. of Education here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/school/hcm
- Academic Accreditation on Probation
- Institution will not be designated Military Friendly® if it has their accreditation is on probation, regardless of reason.
- Any Caution flags or DOD Alerts present through VA, DOD, DOE, or any additional recognized agency are considered disqualifiers.
Bad Actor
Here is a list of the possible reasons your institution could end up on the Bad Actors List. If you have any questions about this, please reach out to the Survey Support Team.
- Department of Education
- Violations of Dept. of Education laws and regulations regarding Veterans, the GI Bill, or any other action (That may not involve Veterans) that the DoE considers negative.
- Department of Veteran Affairs
- Violations of Dept. of Veteran Affairs laws and regulations regarding Veterans, the GI Bill, or any other action that the VA considers negative.
- Accreditation
- Accreditation issues or loss of Accreditation on any level due to findings of the Dept. of Education.
- Predatory Practices
- For-Profit entity or any institution that takes advantage of students with predatory practic
- Federal Flag, Title IV Violations, Student Complaints
- Falsification of statistics, metrics, or information
- Your institution has been found guilty of deceptive marketing to the military community.
- Financial or 90/10 violations
Awards & Categories
Scoring Categories
• Graduate School
• Large Community College
• Large Public
• Non-Traditional/Online/Vocational
• Private Not Offering Doctorate
• Private Offering Doctorate
• Small Community College
• Small Public
• Tier 1 Research
• Tier 2 Research
Awards Categories
Top 10
Top 10 awards are selected based on institutions that submit on or before the December deadline. They represent the highest scoring institution in each of the defined categories. Each category contains an individual selection of Top 10 awardees that fall under that category.
Gold
Gold institutions represent overall survey scores that fall above 41% or score at or above .41 and have five or more qualifying benchmarks.
Silver
Silver institutions represent overall survey scores that fall above 21%+ or score at or above .21+ and have three or more qualifying benchmarks.
Bronze
Bronze institutions represent overall survey scores up to 20% not exceeding 21% or score up to .20 and not exceeding .21 and have three or more qualifying benchmarks.
Designated
Scores met and exceeded the minimal benchmarks for qualification based on public data sources. These institutions likely have not participated in the expanded question selections in the survey. Designation has been determined through the analysis of 27 public data sets.
We group Military Friendly® designated organizations into award categories based on Carnegie classifications or enrollment size and type for colleges. An organization may earn one or several awards, or they may simply meet the standard and be designated Military Friendly® with no award. Designated institutions are included in a baseline assessment and do not represent awards.
Awards & Categories
Blank Military Friendly® Schools Survey PDF
Get a blank PDF of the Military Friendly® Schools Survey questions for your review. This PDF is for reference only and will not be accepted for submissions.
Order Plaques
Order your plaque and display your dedication to the Military/Veteran Community.
Press Kit
Logo Guidelines and Usage
Logos
Logos are not released before embargo dates. Reference the embargo section.
Only institutions that Military Friendly® has named designated, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Top 10 in the awards cycle listed are permitted to use the logo. If you have not submitted a survey, selected for an award, or been determined as designated by Military Friendly®, logo usage is strictly prohibited. Violations will be considered as deceptive marketing can be subject to legal ramifications by Military Friendly®.
2024-25 Military Friendly® School
2024-25 Military Spouse Friendly School®
Press Release Standards and Boilerplate
Press Releases should not be issued before embargo date. Reference the embargo section.
Only institutions that Military Friendly® has named designated, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Top 10 in the awards cycle listed are permitted to press release designation/award status. Designations are valid for one year from the date of the embargo. Previous years logo usage expires and is prohibited from use. Violations will be considered as deceptive marketing can be subject to legal ramifications by Military Friendly®.
Support
I need last year's responses
Past participants can click to request a PDF copy of your institution’s responses from last year or previous years submissions. Results will be sent to your registered email address.
What are my results
Click here to request an email of your survey results.
How many years have I been awarded?
If you need historical information about your institutions submissions or awards, click here and complete the form to receive an email with the information requested.
Possible reasons for a drop in designation levels
Registering your school
Is there a cost to participate?
No.