Texas Veterans Commission Awards Texas A&M University For Service To Veterans

Texas A&M University has been selected as a Gold Recipient of the 2024 Veteran Education Excellence Recognition Award (VEERA) by the Texas Veterans Commission. The award recognizes institutions of higher education for providing excellence in education and related services to student veterans.

Texas A&M is a premier destination for the education of veterans. With roots planted firmly in its history as a military college, Texas A&M prides itself on its continued connections to and support of America’s active duty soldiers and veterans. An estimated 60,000 Aggies have served in the U.S. military and over 1,100 student veterans are currently enrolled. Through its Corps of Cadets, the university commissions more officers into the armed forces than any other institution outside the military academies.

“I’m proud of our university for proving once again that Aggies serve well those who have served,” said General (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III, president of Texas A&M University. “Congratulations to the teams at the Don & Ellie Knauss Veteran Resource and Support Center, Military Admissions, and all the partners across campus who dedicate their time, their talent, and their hearts to ensuring veterans have a successful experience as students at Texas A&M.”

A total of 24 Texas public institutions of higher education were awarded this year; of those, five are Texas A&M University System institutions.

Comprehensive Veteran Support

Through the Don & Ellie Knauss Veteran Resource and Support Center (VRSC), the Office of Military Admissions, and partners across the university, Texas A&M works to help students transition to civilian life and succeed in college and beyond, with tailored resources provided by highly qualified staff, many of whom are veterans themselves.

The VRSC offers student veterans academic support, scholarships and other financial support, career readiness programs and more. Director John Fleming ’94 is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who assumed the role at his alma mater this past summer, upon the retirement of longtime director Col. Jerry Smith ’82, USMC (Ret.).

“Every year veterans attend colleges and universities all over our country and step out into the world as graduates,” Fleming said. “The same process happens at Texas A&M, only our student veterans step out into the world as Aggies, instilled with the Core Values, standards, and traditions that make our university stand above the rest. The addition of our student veterans to the long list of former students makes the Aggie Network stronger.”

Located within the VRSC is the Office of Military Admissions with its team of staff ready to assist student veterans with pre-application counseling, miliary activations and/or re-entry to Texas A&M, and more. Stephanie Love is a military admissions counselor in the office. She says her job at the university is more of “a calling.”

“It is rewarding to help the student veterans because I recognize the unique experiences that each veteran brings to the university,” she said. “I focus on their strengths, and I build upon that. It’s not just about what the university can do for them, it is about what they bring to the university as student veterans.”

Additional services for Aggie student veterans include dedicated spaces to meet and study; a pocket pantry; and the Aggie Shields Textbook Lending Library, which has saved veterans, dependents and survivors more $925,000 in textbook costs over the past nine years.

The VEERA Award was presented to university representatives on Oct. 21, at the 16th annual Texas A&M System Military-Affiliated Student Symposium on the A&M campus in College Station.