Kent State University’s VA Work-Study Program has been working to expand its reach, serving military-affiliated students to help them turn their service experience into academic credit, while providing meaningful hands-on opportunities for student workers.
The program allows students who use military education benefits to work in campus roles that directly support fellow veteran and active-duty students. Within the Office of the University Registrar, VA Work-Study students play a pivotal role in evaluating military transcripts and aligning prior learning to university coursework.
“The VA Work-Study program is a national program that the VA sponsors. They pay a stipend for a VA Work-Study student,” Misty Sommers, assistant university registrar, told Kent State Today. “We started out with one at first and realized that it was more useful than we thought, so now we have two student workers in our office.”
The work-study students assist with reviewing Joint Service Transcripts (JSTs) and researching course equivalencies, which are academic credits awarded to service members and veterans for training, experience and occupations completed during their service. Their work helps ensure that military-affiliated students receive the maximum credit possible for their prior training and experience.
Liana Sanchez, a senior marketing major, said her role often involves identifying opportunities for students to apply their military learning toward requirements for their degrees. Both Sanchez’s parents served in the Air Force.
“I mainly work with looking at students' JSTs and seeing if there are any equivalents that they have that can roll over, so they don’t have to take a class later on,” Sanchez said.
In addition to transcript evaluation, student workers also help expand the university’s database of military course equivalencies and improve how credits are applied across majors.
“We add so many new ones [equivalences] into the system all the time,” Sanchez said. “We make sure the students get the credit that they deserve for what they’re doing.”
An average of 55 academic credits was awarded to military students in fall 2025.
Jordan Jenkins, a senior computer information systems major, said the team also analyzes data to better understand the needs of Kent State’s military student populations.
Jenkins served in the Army for six years as a Signals Intelligence Voice Interceptor (35P).
“We’ve been going through and making sure everything is standardized. We try to look at how we can give them not just transfer equivalents, but also meaningful subject equivalents,” Jenkins said. “We’ve been looking deeper into the different military courses, seeing where we can make things equate better.”
The work-study students' attention to detail and the desire to help their peers have already made a significant impact. In some cases, students who initially believed their military experience would not count toward their degree have been able to apply their training, saving both time and tuition costs.
The top three most popular majors for military students in fall 2025 were nursing, information technology and criminology and justice studies.
“For some, they can cut out a full semester or two off of their degree program,” Sommers said. “It was really helping get them to graduation faster by really helping to recognize that their military learning helped satisfy some of the requirements that they would have needed to take.”
Beyond supporting fellow students, the program also provides professional experience to the students working in these positions. Jenkins said the role has strengthened her interest in using data to make an impact. Sanchez noted the opportunity to learn new systems and gain insight into a process that she did not previously consider.
“You get a sense of purpose from knowing that military students are going to benefit in the future from what you’re doing,” Jenkins said.
This expansion is just one of the steps that allowed Kent State University to become a Military Friendly® School. This is the 17th consecutive year Kent State has been named a Military Friendly School, and the third straight year the Kent Campus has received the highest recognition of Gold status within the designation.
By recognizing the value of military training and translating it into degree requirements, Kent State provides high-quality academics that respect the lived experience of our veterans. This distinctive program offers award-winning support and access, ensuring that military-affiliated students can maximize their benefits and reach the graduation stage sooner.
Learn more about the VA Work-Study program.
Banner Photo Caption: Left to Right: VA Work-Study Program Staff: Misty Sommers, Jordan Jenkins, Liana Sanchez