Let’s face it. A lot of people come to Emporia State because they hear that ESU is one of the best schools for the teaching program.
Students and veterans alike have heard from their high school teachers that Emporia State has wonderful programs.
Sadly, we as students have been roped into a facade. A belief that Emporia State is one of the best schools in the country for Veterans.
Emporia State ranks 71st in Online Graduate Business Programs, 27th in Best Online Graduate Education Programs, and 95th in Best Online MBA Programs according to US News. Overall, Emporia ranks 575th out of nearly 1,500 schools according to collegefactual.com.
Those numbers are certainly not reserved for the title of “best”.
So if we aren’t really in the top ten then why do we have it front page on the website that we are?
That’s false advertisement.
This is, however, not saying that Emporia doesn’t supports it’s veteran’s. We’re a Yellow Ribbon School, which means Emporia fully recognizes and supports our veterans for what they’ve done according to Nakita Elwood, graduate clinical counseling major.
But, a veteran looking to go back to school that sees that is going to fooled when it comes to where Emporia State ranks, when in reality it’s not really that great of a school for veterans. They could come to campus one day and have a realization that Emporia is not one of the best schools and their expectations for the university drop.
Our Student Wellness center doesn’t accept veteran health insurance either. That may or may not have to deal with the Government or some other kind of justifiable reason, but how can school that doesn’t even accept their health insurance be great for them?
That’s just one problem, so how do we know if there isn’t going to be more problems?
A veteran, or any prospective student, that see’s something like “Ranked in the top for best school for veterans” or “Ranked in the top for best distance education program,” they might come to the school without really fact checking that kind of information. If they do fact check, that could cause them to choose not to come to ESU.
The most research anyone might do when looking for a college is: the cost of attendance and if the desired program is there. They might not check every statistic about enrollment rates, number of students able to graduate with less student debt or ranks in some national report. They take what they see as facts and don’t see the need to check those facts.
Students and veterans should not allow this facade of being the “best” school to sway them. Students alike, no matter veteran or not, should do research into where they want to go to school. It could save them a roller coaster of problems and better prepare them for what they might be getting into.