Methodology

The Post-9/11 GI Bill charts show the colleges and universities most attended by current and former service members, as well as eligible dependents, using the Post-9/11 GI Bill in fiscal 2014. They also show the total usage of the benefit across all schools. The Veterans Affairs Department provided the data, and Military Times used information from the Education Department, as well as from particular schools, to interpret it. Dollar figures do not include stipends or Yellow Ribbon program contributions. When possible and appropriate, we combined data for closely related sister institutions that are part of the same university system. Information in italics represents individual schools that enrolled enough Post-9/11 GI Bill students to make the list independently but were part of larger college or university systems.

The tuition assistance charts show — to the best of our knowledge — the colleges and universities most attended by service members using the military tuition assistance benefit in fiscal 2014. They also show the total usage of the benefit across all schools. Readers should note that the Defense Department and all military branches except the Coast Guard refused to provide the same type of detailed data used previously for this project. Instead, the Defense Department provided summary data, which often demonstrated internal inconsistencies. Accordingly, readers should be very cautious relying on this data or trying to draw detailed comparisons between this year's information and that of other years. This is particularly true in the case of the top 10 lists by service, for which DoD provided only minimal summary information in a format that is not comparable to the similar charts published last year by Military Times. The exception is the Coast Guard, which this year provided the same type of comprehensive data used in years past. When possible and appropriate, we combined data for closely related sister institutions that are part of the same university system. Information in italics represents individual schools that enrolled enough TA students to make the list independently but were part of larger college or university systems. In this case as well, the incomplete and sometimes inconsistent nature of data provided by the Defense Department could make it problematic for readers to rely solely on this information or to draw comparisons between this year's data and that of other years.