Evergreen State College waives 50 percent of tuition for all veterans and 100 percent for dependents of disabled, deceased, Missing in Action or Prisoner of War veterans.

What a way to go to school, right?

Evergreen also provides the VETS seminar, which is a college-accredited course taught by retired servicemember Bob McIntosh. "We try and help all servicemembers and dependents entering Evergreen transition," McIntosh said.  VETS seminar is open to all active duty, veterans and dependents to focus on their transition from deployment to post-deployment life and reflect on their educational experiences at Evergreen while also pursuing specific academic goals.

Evergreen State College does not grade students. That's right, no grades. No A's, B's or C's - instead, students self-evaluate themselves at the end of each quarter. Students sit with their professors and talk about what they have learned and how they will use their learning experiences in the future. It also allows students to show off work done outside of the classroom, whether an internship, publication, study abroad, volunteer work or photography.

Danny Marsh is an active-duty servicemember serving at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He currently is taking classes at Evergreen. "I like Evergreen because you can demonstrate your ability. There are no grades here; it is all evaluations and it shows more of what you did at college in your transcripts," he said. "Education should be progressive and adaptive with the future, and Evergreen State College targets that."

Since Evergreen State College is a liberal and arts and science institution, students are able to choose classes and programs that best fit their career goals versus having to take mandatory classes, such as mathematics, in order to graduate.

The options for an education are open here. "Evergreen has the type of curriculum that I could create on my own, and I love it," said veteran Dustin Alger.

Rafael Lozano is the representative of the Veterans Affairs Office. He is also retired from the Air Force.  He is very involved with all the veterans and dependents at Evergreen and is the first point of contact for all military-related inquiries to the campus. "What we do that is different from other colleges (is) each year in September starting fall quarter, we welcome each new veteran or dependent whether it be staff, student or professor and present them with a medallion coin to show our appreciation for their service," Lozano said, adding "on Memorial Day we make sure something is done. We present poppy seeds around campus, and this year we will be calling off the names of 6,000 fallen Soldiers on campus starting at 7:30 a.m. on May 26 until every name has been called to show our appreciation to those who have served."

If you are interested in attending Evergreen State College, Lozano can help with tuition forms, admissions, GI Bill or any other questions. For more information, call (360) 876-6254 or visit www.evergreen.edu.