A Salute to Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia

A Salute to Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia March 15 Ivy Coach salutes Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University for their outstanding track record of supporting our troops. It is to be commended. As you may know, Ivy Coach is deeply committed to helping Americas veterans and current members of our military (which also can include veterans) gain admission to the colleges of their dreams. Its work weve been doing for years and its some of the most fulfilling, rewarding work we do. We are so proud of the many veterans across highly selective college campuses whom we had the privilege and thats precisely what it is to work with in the admissions process. But we are also aware that we have a voice in the admissions process and wed be remiss not to raise it to commend Ivy League institutions that do right by veterans and shame other Ivy League institutions that we dont believe properly support our troops. Just because all Ivy League institutions are Yellow Ribbon does not mean they are all equally supportive to veterans. Being Yellow Ribbon simply means they have agreed to contribute some money towards tuition costs. As an example, while not an Ivy League school, Johns Hopkins Un iversity contributes $1,000 annually per student. Thats not going to cut it. But back to the Ivy League Cornell University, we salute you! The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill offers only a certain amount of money towards annual tuition ($19,200 for private universities and $8,900 for public universities). Cornell covers the remainder of the tuition (making them Yellow Ribbon). They welcome these brave men and women into their schools as though they are any other students pursuing college degrees. And thats exactly how it should be. Cornell University has earned an A in our book. Theyd get an A+ if they didnt have a cap of 100 veterans whom they can have on campus at a time under the Yellow Ribbon Program, a cap that also includes dependents (not just the troops themselves). Dartmouth College, we salute you! Its all love from us for this fellow Yellow Ribbon university. With respect to veterans, you are the crown jewel of the Ivy League.  Dartmouth College supports our troops and may the world know it. Dartmouth College covers the full cost of tuition that is beyond the funds from the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. And they have no cap on the number of veterans they admit each admissions cycle. Dartmouth doesnt have to do the right thing. But Dartmouth chooses to. Dartmouth College has earned an A+ in our book. Other Ivy League colleges may say they support our troops but Dartmouth speaks softly with one very big stick. And Columbia University, we salute you, too! You may not cover the full cost of tuition, contributing $8,000 annually per student. But maybe its because you admit so many vets! And you admit all of these vets through your General Studies Program. This way, their numbers dont hurt your US News World Report ranking. Its a creative workaround and we salute you for this workaround because it means more veterans studying on your campus. For this, well give you an A. Columbia, you deserve it. But thats just about where the love fest ends. Check back soon to find out what we have to say about the remaining Ivies admissions policies towards our troops. It wont be all puppy dogs and ice cream. And, veterans, this is a terrific tool  to use to measure a universitys Yellow Ribbon contributions against another.