CSU Given 'Military Friendly' Title For 4th Year In A Row

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4)- For the fourth year in a row, Colorado State University in Fort Collins has been given the title of "Military Friendly" school.

The designation was awarded by G.I. Jobs magazine, a publication for military members.

On the CSU campus there is an ever-growing population of military veterans.

"I was in the Marine Corps out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina," said CSU student Phillip Jones. "I served in Iraq twice, once in 2006 and then again in 2008."

"I was an E5 Sergeant in the Army and I served in Iraq," said military veteran and CSU student Andrew Waldbauer.

Veterans say it is CSU's multiple programs that made transitioning from military to civilian-college life easy.

"The biggest draw to CSU truthfully is how involved they are in making our military benefits easy," said Marine veteran and CSU student Will Clark.

Clark served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

"There is no way that I would be successful and close to graduation and having a job without having that support system," said Clark.

"The biggest reason I chose CSU was because of the connection they provide in the community," said Waldbauer.

"I met plenty of people with the same background as I and we were able to immediately click," said Jones.

There are about 700 military veterans enrolled at CSU. That number increases every year by about 10 percent.

"Our focus is on supporting those students to come in, our student veterans to be personally and academically successful," said Adult Learner and Veteran Service Director Jenny Picket. "They've given a lot. They've put their lives on hold for however long they were in the military and so now it's a huge honor to be able to help them become successful in the next part of their life."