Education and Employment

MFRI helps student service members and veterans achieve their academic goals and transition to meaningful employment. Our collaborations drive meaningful change for those in higher education and workforce development. 

Focus Forward Fellowship

MFRI created the Focus Forward Fellowship to meet the needs of women student veterans and service members enrolled at a two- or four-year higher education institution. Undergraduate students receive preference when applying. Women seeking a master’s degree are welcome to apply. Sign-up to learn more about the Fellowship and to receive notification about the opening of the Fellowship application.
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Post-secondary institutional support

MFRI builds relationships with colleges and universities across the nation. We generate awareness about the characteristics, strengths and needs of student service members and veterans. Furthermore, we offer consultation, professional development and resources for institutional use. We have awarded more than $2.5 million to strengthen and expand institutional support for student service members and veterans.
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The Higher Education Landscape

Our mission includes a commitment to grow the body of  knowledge about student veterans’ characteristics, strengths and needs. Therefore, we researched and wrote the first report about “The Higher Education Landscape for Student Service Members and Veterans in Indiana.” Furthermore, our longitudinal e-survey seeks to increase understanding about these students’ college experiences and perceptions, recognizing they are unique from their civilian peers. Across our programs, we remain focused on generating new knowledge.
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Support for student veterans’ organizations

MFRI provides hands-on assistance to student veterans’ organizations (SVOs) as they are established, grow and evolve. As a result, we engage them in entrepreneurship and other organizational functions and create opportunities for them to network and share promising practices with other organizations throughout the country. We wrote “Success in 3-D”, a manual to support SVOs.

Workforce development

As we support the transition of student service members and veterans to meaningful employment, we partner with others to build opportunities. For example, we work with local military, businesses, professional organizations and existing campus resources to collaborate on programming. We also are part of the planning and program evaluation committees for Operation Hire A Hoosier Vet, a community collaborative effort to support veteran employment goals. This work has generated a publication (PDF) to help employers better understand the talents veterans offer and to help candidates better communicate their capabilities to potential employers. For information on veteran and employer resources, contact Kathy Broniarczyk, senior director of outreach and operations.