ADELPHI, MD.– UMUC today announced that it has been named the fourth largest provider of higher education to servicemembers and veterans who use their federal education benefits. A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education listed UMUC as one of the largest providers. This ranking comes on the heels of the announcement of the new GI Bill, which passed the Senate last month, and UMUC’s recent contract win with the Department of Defense to deliver undergraduate liberal arts coursework and several graduate-level programs on the ground to U.S. troops stationed in countries in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). "For more than 60 years, UMUC has been dedicated to expanding educational opportunities to servicemembers—at home and abroad in countries like Afghanistan and Djibouti—and we are excited to be recognized as one of the largest providers of higher education to our nation’s servicemembers and veterans,” said UMUC President Susan C. Aldridge. “The new GI Bill provides servicemembers and veterans with additional support to reach their education goals, and we look forward to continuing our history of service to our men and women in uniform.” The Chronicle article lists schools by the number of servicemembers and veterans enrolled in each university. The article found that most veterans choose institutions because of cost, convenience and the ability to provide college credit for military experience. One of UMUC’s sister institutions in the University System of Maryland—the University of Maryland, College Park—was also included in the top 10. UMUC provides numerous educational scholarship opportunities to servicemembers and veterans and offers them the opportunity to earn credit for some formalized training courses completed in the military. UMUC offers 11 scholarships, including the Military Student Support Fund Scholarship, Severely Injured Service Member, Spouse or Dependent Scholarship, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Scholarship to help aid with the cost of obtaining an education at UMUC. The university is also working to raise additional funds for these scholarships as part of its capital fundraising efforts. Since UMUC’s inception in 1947, it has provided higher education to servicemembers and veterans through the GI Bill. UMUC was founded as the College of Special and Continuation Studies. UMUC's historic half-century relationship with the U.S. military began in 1949 when the university provided education programs on bases across post-World War II Europe, then offered similar programs in the Pacific starting in 1956. UMUC is one of eleven campuses in the University System of Maryland. For more information, contact: Kerry O’Neill Phone: 410-902-5035 Email: koneill@mghus.com