Montgomery Community College was recently named a Military Friendly School for 2010 by G.I. Jobs magazine. This honor ranks MCC in the top 15% of all colleges, universities and trade schools nationwide which are doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students. The college received a plaque commemorating this distinction demonstrating its interest in recruiting military students and will be listed in the Guide to Military Friendly Schools handbook.

In addition, Military Times Edge magazine ranked North Carolina Community Colleges among the top 50 colleges and universities nationwide chosen by service members using military tuition assistance.

Criteria for the Military Friendly Schools list include a school's VA-approval of GI Bill benefits, College Level Examination Program acceptance, credit for military service, Reserve and Guard policies, access to flexible learning options, veteran programs, veteran student composition, and assets dedicated to recruiting military students, among others.

The Military Friendly Schools list, which is an extension of G.I. Jobs' six-year-old Military Friendly Employers list, provides military and veteran students a way to discern which schools offer them the most benefit.

"The Military Friendly Schools list creates a metric that sets the bar on how well schools welcome military students. It's an especially important distinction in this Post-9/11 GI Bill era that enables military students to attend virtually any school for free," said G.I. Jobs publisher Rich McCormack.

Montgomery Community College’s financial aid department works closely with active-duty military, veterans or their dependents to provide comprehensive services under the GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation, and other tuition-assistance programs.

MCC’s Veteran’s Administration Certifying Official, Tammy Owens, works one-on-one with individuals attending MCC under these programs to make sure they are able to receive the full range of benefits available.

The Military Friendly Schools list, released this month in G.I. Jobs' annual Guide to Military Friendly Schools handbook, is distributed to the troops. The list will also be promoted throughout the year in G.I. Jobs magazine, Military Spouse magazine, Vetrepreneur magazine, www.gijobs.com, www.milspouse.com, and in an annual poster distributed to military base education offices.