PCC earns national 2024-2025 Military Friendly School honor
Photos and story by Misty Bouse
President Dr. Adrien Bennings with Veterans Services Director Walt Ghant.
Thanks to a myriad of supportive services, Portland Community College has earned the 2024-2025 Military Friendly School designation.
The Military Friendly ratings program was started in 2003 as an advocacy vehicle to encourage civilian organizations to invest in programs to recruit, retain and advance veterans as employees, entrepreneurs and students. By providing a benchmark to aim for, this program has encouraged a focus on recruiting veterans.
Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. More than 1,800 schools participated in the 2024-2025 survey with 537 earning special awards for going above the standard.
“I am profoundly honored and humbled by the recognition of our institution as a 2024-2025 Military Friendly School,” said PCC President Dr. Adrien Bennings, whose father served in the Air Force. “This designation reaffirms our unwavering commitment to supporting our veterans and military-affiliated students. Through our Veterans Resource Centers, we strive to provide not just services, but a sense of belonging and community for those who have served our country. This accolade is a testament to the dedication of our staff and the values we hold dear as an institution. We are proud to be a beacon of support for our veterans, their families, and the wider veteran community.”
The Veterans Resource Centers (VRCs) are open and welcoming spaces that support all students at PCC. The centers focus on providing veteran and military-affiliated students, their families, and the surrounding veteran community with advocacy, resources, programming and cultural engagement. The college has centers located on Cascade, Rock Creek, Southeast, and Sylvania campuses.
The VRCs offer transitional tools for veteran students to be successful on their path back into civilian spaces. PCC also provides a space to socialize, grab a free coffee, study, or simply relax. The VRCs invite all students, staff and faculty to engage and learn more about the veteran culture and vets on our Military Friendly School campus by visiting a VRC .
“PCC’s efforts to strive for excellence in service to student veterans is reflected by this significant Military Friendly College recognition,” said PCC Director of Veteran Services Walt Ghant. “The impact to our student veterans as a result of this designation is ongoing accountability and responsibility to maintain the high quality of service we provide. Our veterans can be proud to be associated with Portland Community College.”
Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and 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.
For more information about PCC’s student veteran programs, visit www.pcc.edu/veterans/ or stop by any main campus. Or for details about the Military Friendly Schools honor, check out www.militaryfriendly.com.
About Misty Bouse
A Portland Community College public relations specialist, Misty Bouse has been working in college advancement for a decade. A graduate of University of Oregon, Misty has worked as a managing editor for BUILDERNews Magazine and as a contribu... more »