An Incredible Honor

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has been named a 2018 Military Friendly School – Gold Level by Victory Media. The college was ranked No. 9 nationally in the Large Community College category for exhibiting leading practices in recruiting and supporting active duty and post-military students.

“MGCCC has always had a very strong relationship with the military on the Gulf Coast,” said Dr. Mary S. Graham, MGCCC president. “The college offers flexible and online classes while providing one-on-one assistance for veterans and active-duty military personnel who need it. Additionally, we are proud to have an MGCCC presence on each of the military installations on the Coast. It is a privilege to serve the men and women who have and continue to risk their lives to protect our freedom.”

About Military Friendly

Each year, 1,200 schools earn the Military Friendly Schools designation out of more than 8,800 institutions nationwide. The schools are assessed through the evaluation of both public data about each institution and proprietary data gathered through a survey. Survey responses are weighted according to the categories of student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans. The benchmark is set by the score of the leading institution.

MGCCC’s Commitment to Military Education

As part of its service to active-duty and veteran members of the military, MGCCC has campuses on both Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi and the Naval Construction Battalion (Seabee) Center in Gulfport. These college centers offer classes to military personnel and their dependents and anyone else wanting to take classes on the base.

“With proper identification and quick a background check, we can have students approved to come on base during class hours,” said Alrié Poillion, director of education at the Seabee Base.

In fact, we encourage individuals to take these classes as we want to make sure each class is full, and it is nice to have a diverse population of students, more like those offered off base.

The base centers offer flexible class schedules that include weekend, afternoon and evening classes as well as the regular daytime classes. “Plus, we work with military personnel that may have complications with completing courses due to work requirements,” Poillion said. “We try to make getting an education as convenient as possible.”

Ashley Landry, education representative at the Keesler Center, said that they also help expedite the paperwork military personnel need to complete to take classes. “We are very familiar with all of the paperwork necessary for them to get approved for classes and get their financial aid established,” she said. “We can help navigate that system, making it easier on them.”

Landry said the college also helps accelerate admissions and registration at all campuses and centers. “We have counselors that deal with helping walk our active-duty and veteran personnel through the process. They basically have a one-stop shop set up for them through our V.A. certifying support services coordinators. They only need to contact the campus of their choice to begin the process.”

To find out more about course schedules at the military bases, visit mgccc.edu/class-schedules and click on either Keesler Center Classes or Navy Base Center Classes for the semester of your choice.

For more information about classes and access to the Navy Base, contact Alrié Poillion at 228-897-3795 or alrie.poillion@mgccc.edu. For more information about classes and access to Keesler Air Force Base, contact Ashley Landry at 228-897-3891 or ashley.landry@mgccc.edu.


Interested in military courses at MGCCC? Learn more about enrolling at MGCCC.

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