Campus & Community

Three military publications—Victory Media, Military Times and Military Advanced Education & Transition—have named Palm Beach State College to their 2018 lists of schools that best provide veterans, service members and their families with the higher education and support they need to pursue a civilian career.

Victory Media designated PBSC a 2018 Gold “Top 10” Military Friendly^® School, placing the College seventh among large public postsecondary institutions in the U.S. More than 1,300 schools participated and 849 received one of the Military Friendly^® designations, with Gold being the highest. PBSC will be showcased in the annual Guide to Military Friendly^® Schools, special education issues of G.I. Jobs^® and Military Spouse magazines, and on MilitaryFriendly.com.

PBSC ranks eighth nationwide among two-year institutions on the 2018 Military Times Best Colleges list. More than 600 institutions took part in this year’s detailed survey, but fewer than half received the designation. The rankings are published in Military Times magazine, as well as online at MilitaryTimes.com, ArmyTimes.com, NavyTimes.com, AirForceTimes.com and MarineCorpsTimes.com.

PBSC earned the designation of “Top School” in Military Advanced Education & Transition’s 2018 Guide to Colleges & Universities. Schools are not ranked in the guide. Rather, the schools are chosen based on their score in a comprehensive survey measuring best practices in military and veteran education.

“The reason we were recognized by these leading publications is because of the dedication Palm Beach State College has to its student veterans, active duty and their families,” said Matthew Watkins, PBSC’s veterans affairs coordinator. “The College is unique with a total of three veterans resource centers, sixteen VA student work-study positions, three student veterans clubs, three veterans-specific academic advisors, and two VA benefits certifying officials. All of our staff members are veterans or come from a military family, and we all feel there is no greater calling than serving those who have served us.”

New Veterans Resource Center
These recognitions come as PBSC works on a major upgrade to its Lake Worth campus veterans resource center. Anticipated to open during the 2018 spring term, the facility will feature a lounge for social and recreational activities, study areas, a computer lab, and a conference room and administrative offices. It will house services ranging from tutoring and academic advising to financial aid assistance, benefits counseling and disability services. The renovation is made possible through an $800,000 one-time appropriation approved by the Florida Legislature in 2016 and sponsored by former State Senator Maria Sachs, a champion of veterans. The other PBSC veterans resource centers are located on the Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens campuses.

For more information about the Veterans Services department, call 561-868-3380 or visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/VeteransServices.