LFCC again designated a Military Friendly® School

College meets the “Gold” standard when it comes to veterans.

For the 10^th year, LFCC has been designated a Military Friendly® School by Viqtory, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business that connects service members to civilian jobs and education.

For the first time the college has been given a gold designation. This distinction means that Lord Fairfax scored within 10 percent of the 10^th highest-rated school in the small community colleges category.

Institutions were assessed in relation to several variables including student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, and whether students went on to transfer or advance their degrees.

LFCC received full marks in all categories: academic policies and compliance, admissions and orientation, culture and commitment, financial aid and assistance, graduation and career, and military student support and retention.

The college exceeded the Military Friendly® standards in financial aid and assistance by 79 percent, in admissions and orientation by 78 percent, and academic policies and compliance by 67 percent.

Fairfax Hall on the Middletown Campus boasts a dedicated Veterans Center where students can meet with academic advisors/school certifying officials, use the free printing services, grab coffee and meet with fellow veterans. The college also has a Student Veterans Organization.

As a Virginia Values Veterans (V3) partner, Lord Fairfax has received education and training in the best practices of recruiting, hiring and retaining employee veterans.

“LFCC and its Veteran Services Department are very personal, respectful and understanding of any special circumstances or disability that comes with being a veteran,” says U.S. Army veteran Joel Lunghi, who is graduating this spring with an associate degree in general studies and planning to transfer to George Mason University.

Another graduating student, Gina Scalzo, a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, says the college has been very supportive of her.

“The veterans advising office has been extremely helpful in deciding what academic path to pursue and understanding how to use the tuition assistance I received from the reserves,” she says.

Lord Fairfax is committed to helping ease the return to civilian life for veterans and guiding them as they pursue their educational goals, veteran advisor/school certifying official Sharon Painter says.

“In many instances, our veterans haven’t been in a traditional classroom for at least four years,” she says. “We work hard to aid their transition into student life.”

This year marks the 10^th time the Military Friendly® Schools list has been released by Viqtory. The list will be published in May in G.I. Jobs magazine.

It is developed from research of publicly available data from more than 8,800 schools around the nation, as well as input from student veterans and a survey done by participating schools.