Veterans

Saint Mary’s College of California is approved for the training of veterans and their eligible dependents under VA education benefits and the Yellow Ribbon Program. Our goal in Veteran Support Services is to ensure all veteran students and their dependents feel supported and included in the SMC Community. Funds raised through this campaign will help ensure the Veteran Resource Center has the equipment and supplies our students need to be able to be successful in the classroom, to create and maintain spaces on campus that acknowledge the sacrifices our Veteran Students have made, and to provide opportunities for engagement with other veterans and the campus community.

Here is what one of our Veteran Students shared with us: " As a veteran and current service member’s spouse, I understand that life can happen unexpectedly and in 2022 it did just that. After completing my associate’s degree on the East Coast, my wife received orders to the Bay Area. On very short notice, I needed to find an institution to continue my education. In late July, a month before classes began, I reached out to Admissions to see, if, by any miracle, they could admit me. Not only was I accepted within a week, but I had also been awarded the Presidential Scholarship. When classes started a month later, staff and faculty made it a point that I visit the Veteran Resource Center on campus and that is when I met fellow student veterans, forging bonds that mirrored those I had formed during my time in the service. There, in the Veteran Resource Center, and with the community of my fellow veterans, I was able to achieve both my academic and personal goals, enabling me to aspire to be the best Gael that I can be."