ST. PHILIP’S COLLEGE OFFICIALLY NAMED “MILITARY-FRIENDLY SCHOOL”

List directs veterans to schools with best academic customer services and facilities for veterans

SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 14, 2009) --- G.I. Jobs magazine has listed St. Philip’s College on its newly released 2010 list of Military-Friendly Schools.

The magazine’s list directs veterans to the top 15-percent of colleges that serve veterans.

“We believe this listing will pay big dividends,” said John W. Westerbeck, Coordinator of Veterans Affairs at St. Philip's College. “Approximately 900-1,000 veterans or eligible family members attend the college in the fall and spring semesters, and approximately 750 during the summer terms,” said Westerbeck.

“St. Philip's College is conveniently positioned near Fort Sam Houston, Lackland and Randolph Air Force Bases,” said Dr. Burton Crow, Dean of Enrollment Management at the college. “The Veterans Affairs Office is staffed with four full-time personnel and up to seven VA Work-Study employees, thus, allowing individual attention to all VA-eligible students,” said Crow. “We manage a State of Texas program entitled the Hazelwood Act Exemption Program for veterans who have exhausted their VA benefits which pays for 150 credit hours of college,” Crow said.

“Our curriculum is heavy in Health Science and Nursing programs that support the medical training mission at Fort Sam Houston,” said Crow.

The college offers a Center for Health Professions that is part of a newly constructed $49 million complex less than four miles from Fort Sam Houston. The college’s Respiratory Therapy and Physical Therapy programs are both rated Exemplary by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

“Our technical campus effectively serves our military/veteran population through a wide range of programs such as Automotive Technology, Aircraft Technician Powerplant/Airframe, Diesel, Electrical, Air Conditioning and Heating, and Welding,” Crow added. “Our nontechnical campus has various offerings, including a strong Culinary Arts Program which was designated as Exemplary by the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission,” said Crow. “The program was also recognized as an Exemplary Workforce Education Program by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,” Crow said.

The veteran-owned magazine began researching its list in 2008 and looked at more than 7,000 schools based on methodology developed in part by administrators and educators from the University of Toledo, Carnegie Mellon University and Lincoln Technical Institute. In September the magazine will launch the site www.militaryfriendlyschools.com to help veterans choose such schools as St. Philip’s College.

Websites/Resources related to this story include:

1) St. Philip’s College; and 2) 2010 Guide to Military-Friendly Schools.

About St. Philip’s: Bishop James Steptoe Johnston of the St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of the West Texas Diocese founded Alamo Colleges—St. Philip’s College in 1898. Today, Alamo Colleges—St. Philip’s College is a multi-campus institution of the Alamo Colleges and serves a semester enrollment of nearly 10,000 credit and more than 6,000 continuing education students. Alamo Colleges—St. Philip’s is a Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution and is the only college in the nation that carries this dual designation. As “A Point of Pride in the Community,” Alamo Colleges—St. Philip’s College is among the oldest and most diverse community colleges in the United States.