College gives VFW members break
In an effort to recruit younger members to its ranks, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of Nevada has forged a partnership with a nonprofit, online college in Albany, N.Y., that gives VFW members and their spouses discounts on tuition and fees.
Bruce Hollinger, commander of VFW Nevada, said Thursday the agreement with the distance-learning institution, Excelsior College, amounts to a 20 percent reduction in tuition and course fees for members of the Nevada VFW and its auxiliary.
The idea is to attract younger veterans from the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hollinger said.
Those veterans make up about 10 percent of VFW membership nationwide and in Nevada.
Nevada has roughly 7,800 VFW members, he said.
"A lot of our members who are young Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have jobs," Hollinger said, noting that it is more convenient for them to take online college courses rather than attend university and college campuses.
The partnership with Excelsior is patterned after one the college has with New York Veterans of Foreign Wars that was finalized in March.
An Excelsior College representative, Diana Quinones, will speak on the VFW Nevada education partnership during a conference Jan. 21 in Las Vegas at Arizona Charlie's, 740 S. Decatur Blvd.
In a news release, Excelsior College President John Ebersole said, "These partnerships will strengthen the VFW organization and contribute to veterans' quality of life."
Ebersole is a Coast Guard veteran who served in the Vietnam War.
Excelsior College appeals to veterans and service members because of its transfer credit policies that recognize prior military training and education with prior college education.
The college was named by Military Times Edge magazine as one of the top schools for veterans.
For more information about the program with VFW Nevada contact Hollinger at (702) 308-1696.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
