Excelsior College has again been named a top military-friendly college by Military Advanced Education magazine (MAE), which gives added commendation to Excelsior for its “notable veterans support programs.” This is the third year that Excelsior has recognition from MAE, a journal of higher education for servicemembers. Click here to read the full article.

Click here to see our Holiday card.

Whether you’re serving overseas, right here in the U.S., or you’re retired military, our many thanks go out to you this Thanksgiving. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday.

Our first Open House at Excelsior College specifically for our military & veteran community was a great success! We had over 50 people come visit us, get answers to their questions and some enrolled in Excelsior on the spot! We reviewed many transcripts and met some great folks. Thanks to everyone who came!

If you live in the Capital District of NY, please consider coming to visit us on Wednesday, November 4th. We are holding an Open House at our campus, located at 7 Columbia Circle, Albany from 10am to 8pm. We will have representatives available from all of our schools and from Financial Aid to help you learn how best to take advantage of your GI Bill benefits. Refreshments will be served and there will be door prizes! For more information, please click here.

Need a little help to kick-start your social media marketing? Here are some tips from the Air Force. From a post by David Meerman Scott on WebInkNow, the U.S. Air Force is now Armed with Social Media. The Air Force apparently now has a team called the Air Force Emerging Technology team, led by Capt. David Faggard of the Air Force Public Affairs Agency in the Pentagon.

Click here to see the entire article.

The Georgia Army National Guard’s most senior enlisted position is now held by Army Cmd. Sgt. Maj. James Nelson of Sylvester. Click here to read more.

The designation follows years of research, surveys and data analysis by G.I.Jobs, and places Excelsior among the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools serving the military nationwide. The surveys evaluated 7,000 institutions on their efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, recruitment results, academic accreditations and other factors.

The designation follows two consecutive years in which another publication, Military Advanced Education, named Excelsior among the top military-friendly colleges and universities nationwide in 2008 and 2009.

For the full story, click here.

How great would it be if your second career used all the strengths you developed in your first career? That’s why so many military personnel get into criminal justice when they retire. The character traits you build in the service—discipline, dedication, sacrifice, leadership—are exactly what law enforcement agencies look for. And the job outlook is bright: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (see the March issue of G.I. Jobs), employment in law enforcement should expand 11 percent through 2016.

More and more agencies, though, are looking for college diplomas, especially bachelor’s degrees. So I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Excelsior College’s criminal justice degree.

Do you know someone who’s made the leap to criminal justice? What did they think of their new career?

Recently the Marines announced that they will be blocking social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

This seems surprising given that most of the military branches have been supportive of the social networking sites and coming out with official sites of their own.

What are your thoughts? Is this a good idea considering the sensitivity of some of the information being discussed or is it an overreaction on the part of the Marines?