2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry

Veterans have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry” ranking.

Lay Ministry is the 630th most popular major in the country with 504 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 147 lay ministry graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in lay ministry. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great lay ministry programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the lay ministry program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry”.

Top 2 Best Lay Ministry Colleges for Veterans in the Great Lakes Region

1

Grace College and Theological Seminary
Winona Lake, Indiana

27 GI Bill® Students**

YES Student Veterans Organization

$8,455 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Grace College and Theological Seminary. The school came in at #1 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry. Grace College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Winona Lake, Indiana. The school has a small population, and it awarded 9 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Grace College also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 27 of the 1,901 students enrolled at Grace College were GI Bill® students, of which 20 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $8,455. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

[Read full report on veteran student life at Grace College]](/colleges/grace-college-and-theological-seminary/student-life/veterans/)

2

Grace Christian University
Wyoming, Michigan

101 GI Bill® Students**

$4,478 Average GI Bill® Award

$33,837 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Lay Ministry that were part of this year’s ranking, Grace Christian University landed the #2 spot on the list. Grace Christian University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Wyoming, Michigan. The school has a small population, and it awarded 65 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our great lakes region vets studying lay ministry list, Grace has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 1,052 students enrolled at Grace Christian University, 101 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 61 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $4,478. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Grace Christian University offers credit for military training for eligible students.

Full Grace Christian University Veteran Student Life Report

• Best Lay Ministry Colleges for Veterans

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.