Southwestern College is now participating in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Yellow Ribbon Program. 

The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program) is a provision of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.  Through this program, degree-granting colleges and universities partner with the VA to help lower costs to the veteran by funding tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate.  The institution can contribute up to 50% of those expenses and the VA will match this amount. 

“Given the number of military learners and veterans we serve, our participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program is imperative and consistent with our mission,” says Karen Pedersen, vice president for Southwestern College Professional Studies.  “We pride ourselves on being ‘military friendly’ and for us that means strategically partnering with each of the service branches.”

Southwestern College Professional Studies has served as an eArmyU and GoArmyEd partner since 2000 and has been named the top Air University Associate-to-Baccalaureate Cooperative (AU ABC) partner with the Air Force.  In November of 2008, Southwestern College Professional Studies was named as a top Military Friendly College by Military Advanced Education.  Today, many of the full-time Southwestern College Professional Studies’ staff members know and understand military life because they have personally lived it.

Only individuals entitled to the maximum Post 9-11 GI Bill benefit rate (based on service requirements) may receive the Yellow Ribbon funding.  Eligible participants will have:
• Served an aggregate period of active duty after September 10, 2001, of at least 36 months;
• Been honorably discharged from active duty for a service connected disability and served 30 continuous days after September 10, 2001; 
• Be a dependent eligible for Transfer of Entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill based on a veteran’s service under the eligibility criteria listed above. 

“They (veterans) give so much to our country, as an institution of higher learning, we look for every opportunity we have to serve their educational needs,” Pedersen says.

For more information about the Yellow Ribbon Program, call (316) 684-5335.

Southwestern College is a private institution granting undergraduate and graduate degrees and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.  More than 1,900 students attend classes at the main Winfield campus, at five professional studies sites in Kansas and Oklahoma (including McConnell AFB, Fort Riley in Kansas, and near Tinker AFB in OKC), or online around the world.