Victory Media, originator of Military Friendly education and career resources for veterans and their families including G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse media, released their 2016 Military Friendly Schools on MilitaryFriendly.com today. Now in its 13th year for companies and seventh year for post-secondary schools, Victory Media’s Military Friendly ratings recognize colleges with leading programs for veterans, members of the Armed Forces leaving military service and military spouses.

“We are honored to receive this designation for the fifth year in a row,” says Director of Military and Adult Education Stefane Raulerson at Darton State College. “Darton State College’s Military Resource Center strives to provide individually tailored resource guidance for military students, to include active-duty, reservists, veterans, and family members as they achieve their higher education goals.”

This year’s lists highlight more than 1,400 Military Friendly Schools exhibiting best practices in support of military students. Institutions of higher learning competed for the title by completing an extensive survey covering ten indicators of success, including:

• Support for student veterans on campus,

• Graduation and employment outcomes, and

• Military spouse policies.

Survey responses were scored against benchmarks, with results independently tested by EY (Ernst & Young) based upon the weightings and methodology established by Victory Media and its independent Advisory Board.

“We live in an era when the value of military service in the professional world is unquestioned and unmatched,” said Chris Hale, a Navy veteran and Chairman and Co-Founder of Victory Media. “Veterans are graduates of the premier training institution in the world, but they need a consistent and predictable standard that lets them make good choices for major life decisions like where to work or where to enroll in school. The mission of Military Friendly is to create maximum professional opportunity for them and other members of the military community.”

Daniel Nichols, Chief Product Officer of Victory Media and Navy Reserve veteran adds: “Those earning the 2016 Military Friendly designation demonstrate a strong connection between classroom learning and career development. They’re moving the needle beyond ‘why recruit military’ to translating military competencies into training and positive employment after graduation.”