Fairfield University #1 in Best Colleges for Veterans, Regional Universities North | Press Releases

Fairfield is among the top-ranked schools that participate in federal initiatives helping veterans and active-duty service members pay for their degrees. Schools reported on their benefits for veterans as part of U.S. News' annual statistical survey of undergraduate schools during spring and summer 2016. U.S. News’ Best Colleges for Veterans rankings provide military veterans and active-duty service members with data on which top-ranked schools offer benefits that help make college more affordable.

These rankings only include numerically ranked schools in the 2017 edition of the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings that meet the following criteria:

the institution is certified for the GI Bill, the institution participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program or is a public school that charges in-state tuition to all out-of-state veterans, and the institution is in the top half of its U.S. News ranking category and had 20 or more students who used GI Bill benefits to partially or fully finance their tuition and fees during 2015-2016. U.S. News ranked qualifying schools numerically and in descending order based on their 2017 Best Colleges ranks.

In addition to recognition as #1 Best College for Veterans, Regional Universities North, the 2017 U.S. News’ Best Colleges report ranked Fairfield University #2 among Regional Universities North and recognized Fairfield’s Service Learning programs among Best “Academic Programs to Look For.” Fairfield shares the Service Learning distinction with 27 colleges and universities nationwide including Brown University, Cornell University, Duke University, Stanford University, University of Notre Dame and University of Pennsylvania.

Veterans Commemoration Ceremony

The Fairfield University community gathered on Thursday, November 10 for a Veterans Commemoration Ceremony and to celebrate Veteran’s Day. November 10 also marks the 241 ^st birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps

Officers from Fairfield University’s Department of Public Safety raised an American flag that was given to the University by Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Biggs of the U.S. Air Force in appreciation for the education his daughter, Taylor Biggs ’16 received at Fairfield University under the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program. The flag has flown over Iraq and Afghanistan during combat missions.

Fairfield University President Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., Lynn Babington, PhD, RN, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Meredith Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN, Dean, Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, and Rev. Thomas M. Simisky, S.J., President, Fairfield College Preparatory School, presided. Fairfield’s a cappella group, the Bensonians sang the national anthem.

“This Veterans Day we’re called together in words of honor and appreciation for those men and women who have left their families, their lives and all they’ve known to keep us safe and promote peace and freedom in our neighboring countries,” said Dr. Meredith Kazer, who served in the Army Nurse Reserve Corps from 1989 to 2002 in the 340 ^th General Hospital and the 455 ^th Combat Support Hospital,

Kazer, who comes from a long line of military veterans, also spoke about Fairfield University’s Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies partnership with the V.A.: “Our Veteran-Centric curriculum ensures that our graduates deeply reflect upon this sacrifice in order to provide the best care for our Veteran’s. Our formal partnership with the Connecticut Veteran’s Administration Medical Center ensures that our students have the practice opportunities to care for both the physical and mental health needs of our Veterans.”

Those gathered were called to remember the sacrifice of our veterans: “Consider those away and afraid in Europe, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, hoping to go home, not knowing whether they will. This is the human cost of war.” Kazer concluded, “For the many sacrifices of our veterans, for the freedom and safety we’ve enjoyed as American citizens and for the peace, freedom and security our veterans have brought the world. We thank you today, tomorrow and in the many years to come.”

Fairfield University is a Jesuit University, rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University’s five schools. In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.