{"id":55191,"date":"2026-05-11T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=55191"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:06:54","slug":"resources-sustained-support-upgrade-military-friendly-school-designations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/resources-sustained-support-upgrade-military-friendly-school-designations\/","title":{"rendered":"Resources, Sustained Support Upgrade Military Friendly School Designations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University has been recognized as a 2026-27 Military Spouse Friendly\u00ae<\/sup> School, while maintaining its Military Friendly\u00ae<\/sup> School Gold status for a second year, further affirming the institution\u2019s sustained dedication to serving military-connected students and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere at Tarleton State we love our country, stand for the flag and support our military families. This recognition acknowledges our deep commitment to serving those who serve our nation,\u201d said Tarleton State President Dr. James Hurley. \u201cWe are proud to support military-connected students and their families with strong academic programs, dedicated resources and a caring community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With renewal of the Military Friendly Gold designation, Tarleton State continues to rank among the nation’s top tier of institutions that demonstrate excellence in student retention, graduation outcomes and robust support services for veterans and active-duty service members, according to Dr. Sherri Benn, Vice President for Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn addition to the gold designation, we are especially proud to have earned the Military Spouse Friendly designation this year,\u201d Dr. Benn added. \u201cThis recognition highlights our intentional efforts to support military spouses, who often face unique challenges related to relocation, career continuity and access to education. It affirms that Tarleton State provides flexible, accessible and supportive pathways for spouses to achieve their academic and professional goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military spouses are included in the university\u2019s military-connected orientations and in recognition, appreciation and achievement programs. Social activities have been expanded to include spouses. Tarleton State\u2019s Office of Veteran Services also provides assistance to spouses who are using benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university achieved the silver Military Friendly School designation in 2024 and was upgraded to gold level in 2025, recognizing the institution\u2019s ongoing dedication to supporting veterans and military-connected students in achieving their academic goals. Veteran-friendly initiatives were expanded, such as establishing a Veteran Friendly Office training program, ensuring disabled and Purple Heart veterans have access to dedicated parking, training faculty and staff in military friendly practices, and recognizing military-connected Texans during special events. An additional veteran\u2019s academic advisor was brought on board as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The combined Military Friendly designations reinforce Tarleton State\u2019s role as a leader in creating an inclusive, supportive environment for the entire military-connected community, Dr. Benn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom dedicated advising and financial support to career services and community engagement, we strive to ensure that those who serve \u2014 and their families \u2014 have the resources they need to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military Friendly started in 2003 as a ratings entity and evaluates institutions based on their efforts to recruit, retain and advance veterans through a comprehensive algorithm that uses public data, institutional submissions and veteran surveys. Ratings range from pledge status to full designation and award levels \u2014 top 10, gold, silver and bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on Military Friendly and the standards behind the designation, visit militaryfriendly.com<\/a>. To learn more about the Veteran Support Services at Tarleton State, visit tarleton.edu\/veteran-services\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University has been recognized as a 2026-27 Military Spouse Friendly\u00ae School, while maintaining its Military Friendly\u00ae School Gold status for a second year, further affirming …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":55192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":382,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,425,421,426],"tags":[450,462],"class_list":["post-55191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-campus-community","category-featuredstories","category-honors-achievements","tag-leadership-military","tag-lozano-long-division-of-global-community-and-first-gen-initiatives"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"ehellmund@tarleton.edu","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/ehellmundtarleton-edu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/05\/Military-Friendly.jpg-300x200.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>","Featured Stories<\/a>","Honors & Achievements<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>","Featured Stories<\/span>","Honors & Achievements<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Leadership and Military<\/a>","Lozano Long Division of Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Leadership and Military<\/span>","Lozano Long Division of Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 8 hours ago","modified":"Updated 1 week ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 11, 2026","modified":"Updated on May 1, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 11, 2026 10:00 am","modified":"Updated on May 1, 2026 4:06 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55193,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55191\/revisions\/55193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}