USCA Designated a 2025-2026 Military Friendly® School "Gold" Designation
The University of South Carolina Aiken has once again earned the Military Friendly® “Gold” School designation and was ranked as the #7 Military Friendly Spouse School.
Institutions earning the Military Friendly® School title were evaluated using public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2025-2026 survey, and 537 earned special awards for exceeding the standard.
The 2025-2026 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in the May and October issues of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.
Viqtory determined methodology, criteria, and weightings with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in higher education and the military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution’s survey scores with the assessment of the institution’s ability to meet thresholds for Student Retention, Graduation, Job Placement, Loan Repayment, Persistence (Degree Advancement or Transfer), and Loan Default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.
Robert Murphy, director of Student Veteran Military Services (VMSS) at USCA, explained how impactful this recognition is for the program. “The significance is seeing the national recognition for the hard work USCA puts forth to ensure our veteran and military student community has what they need for academic success,” Murphy said. “These students often have multiple factors (various benefits, deployments, gaps in semesters) that make completing their degree a little more challenging. Knowing this, the VMSS Center Team connects with and fosters a success mindset from the first day a military-connected student walks on campus.”
About two years ago, VMSS focused on ensuring military spouses were just as engaged on campus as much if not more than military veterans and service members. “Military spouses often delay their education due to their partner’s military service career, deployments, or duty station transfer. We wanted to ensure that a military spouse attending USCA has every opportunity to complete their degree,” Murphy explained. VMSS established an annual military spouse scholarship to support this goal and rigorously reviewed transcripts to maximize the amount of coursework transferred from other institutions into their degree programs.
In addition to assisting military spouses, VMSS processed over 1648 student VA GI Bill benefits to ensure students had the funds to pay for school, books, and housing.
According to Murphy, there are only two other South Carolina universities, along with USCA, with a Military Friendly School Gold rating: USC Beaufort and Lander University. “USCA is the only South Carolina Small Public University with the Gold rating and ranked in the top 10 Military Spouse Friendly Small Public Schools in the nation.”
“Military Friendly® is committed to transparency and providing consistent data-driven standards in our designation process. Our standards provide a benchmark that promotes positive outcomes and support services that better the educational landscape and provide opportunities for the Military Community. This creates a competitive atmosphere that encourages Institutions to evolve and invest in their programs consistently. Schools that achieve awards designation show true commitment in their efforts, going over and above that standard.” - Kayla Lopez, National Director of Military Partnerships, Military Friendly®.
For more information about USCA’s student veteran programs, visit USCA.edu by clicking the link here.
About Military Friendly® Schools:
The Military Friendly® Schools list is created yearly based on extensive research using public data sources from more than 8,800 schools nationwide, input from student veterans, and responses to the proprietary, data-driven Military Friendly® Schools survey from participating institutions. The survey questions, methodology, criteria and weighting were developed with the assistance of an independent research firm and an advisory council of educators and employers. The survey is administered for free and is open to all postsecondary schools that wish to participate.
Criteria for consideration can be found at www.militaryfriendly.com.
About USCA:
The University of South Carolina Aiken is a regional university offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees across more than 70 academic programs to approximately 4,000 students. USCA has been consistently recognized as a top Regional Comprehensive Public College in the South for over a decade, attracting students from 41 states and 25 countries. With a commitment to providing a high-quality education at an affordable cost, USCA offers tuition rates well below the national average. Over 50% of students receive full tuition support and 30% graduate debt-free thanks to scholarships and financial aid. For more details, visit www.usca.edu.
About Viqtory:
Founded in 2001, VIQTORY is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) that connects the military community to civilian employment, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities through its G.I. Jobs® and Military Friendly® brands. VIQTORY and its brands are not a part of or endorsed by the U.S. Dept of Defense or any federal government entity. Learn more about VIQTORY at www.viqtory.com.
For more information, contact USCA Marketing & Communication at news@usca.edu.