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Embry-Riddle Joins Yellow Ribbon Program to Help Veterans Secure College Educations

Premier Aviation/Aerospace University to Offer Yellow Ribbon Scholarships

Yellow Ribbon Graphic Daytona Beach, Fla. /Prescott, Ariz., July 9, 2009 -- Eligible military veterans with a passion for aviation, aerospace, and related industries will be able to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University beginning in Fall 2009, with virtually no financial burden, the University announced today.

Interested veterans can choose from more than 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs ranging from global intelligence studies, aeronautical science (professional pilot), business, and aerospace engineering to space physics, meteorology, and air traffic management offered by Embry-Riddle at its two residential campuses based in Daytona Beach, Fla., or Prescott, Ariz., as well as its Worldwide campus centers or online in the United States.

“Embry-Riddle has deep roots in support of our service members and providing veterans with a world-class education--dating back to our training of pilots during World War II,” said John P. Johnson, Embry-Riddle president. “We’re very pleased and proud to support our deserving young men and women veterans who want to pursue higher degrees under the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program with Embry-Riddle.”

The Yellow Ribbon Program is part of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, which allows U.S. colleges and universities to voluntarily enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to provide additional assistance to eligible veterans and their dependents who are charged tuition and fees that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate rate in the state where the school is located.

Embry-Riddle will participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program at the maximum rate by providing Yellow Ribbon Scholarships equal to 50 percent of the unmet tuition charges for all eligible students, regardless of the campus they attend. In total, the University has agreed to provide Yellow Ribbon Program scholarships to up to 20,350 eligible veterans accepted to the University for the 2009-2010 academic year.

To put this in perspective, the University’s contribution to a veteran’s education benefits, combined with the Post-9/11 GI Bill, will make attending this world-class university possible at little or virtually no cost, based on the current tuition and fee payment data available from the Department of Veterans Affairs. (For tuition and fee information go to http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_BILL_Info/CH33/YRP/YRP_List.htm.)

Eligible individuals are encouraged to visit the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site at http://gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/benefits.htm#CH33 to obtain in-depth information about the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit and the Yellow Ribbon Program.

More than 7,400 service members, veterans, and their dependents are receiving veterans education benefits throughout the Embry-Riddle university system today. Currently, about 20 percent of Embry-Riddle’s more than 6,500 residential students are in ROTC, majoring in nearly every discipline. Embry-Riddle’s two Air Force ROTC detachments form the largest university-based Air Force commissioning source in the nation, and also produce more commissioned officers, pilots, and other rated officers for the Air Force than any other institution in the nation except the Air Force Academy.

In addition, some 26,000 service members are students of Embry-Riddle Worldwide and more than 60,000 courses are being taken by military personnel in more than 130 Worldwide campuses, including campuses in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait.

Veterans interested in learning more about Embry-Riddle’s admissions standards and course offerings can visit www.embryriddle.edu or call Admissions at the following campus of their choice:

Florida Residential Campus: 800-862-2416 Arizona Residential Campus: 800-888-3728 Worldwide Campus: 800-522-6787 Embry-Riddle also has a dedicated University Veterans Affairs office to assist with education benefits questions. For more information, go to http://www.erau.edu/er/veterans/ or call 386-226-6350.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering, educating students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs. Doctoral programs in aviation and in engineering physics are pending approval by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 campus centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.