JPMorgan announced this week it will give $1 million to schools to improve higher education courses for United States military veterans.
In a press release, Maureen Casey, the director of military and veterans affairs for JP Morgan, said the money is meant to help veterans make the transition from serving their country in a military capacity to the working world.
“Education is a path to sustainable employment as well as family and financial stability,” Casey said in the press release. “By supporting educational opportunities for veterans and their families we will cultivate and empower the next greatest generation.”
Casey talked about the grant program as part of her testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives on the private sector’s initiatives to hire more veterans, an issue that has been on the front burner for Congress in recent years.
According to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the unemployment rate for Gulf War II veterans was 7.3%, higher than the 6.4% for all workers. However, it has fallen in the last year, from 10.8% in December 2012.
In November of last year, Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez said that the country had “come a long way” in hiring veterans, but also added “we can do better.” He said veterans are the type of employees that companies want: men and women who work hard, show up on time and exhibit leadership and loyalty.
Dakota L. Meyer, a Marine Corps reservist who travels the country to listen to the concerns of fellow veterans, said in a panel discussion in November that “there aren’t too many jobs out there for snipers,” referring to his military specialty.
However, he added, “Veterans bring so many skills to the table, companies need to realize that.”
JP Morgan is giving the grant money to Florida State University at Jacksonville, University of South Florida, The University of Texas at Arlington and San Diego State University.
JP Morgan is part of the 100,000 Jobs Mission, a coalition of 130 American businesses that pledged to hire 100,000 veterans by 2020. They have already reached 117,439 as of the end of 2013. The new plan is to hire 200,000 veterans by 2020.
JP Morgan was among the 11 companies that founded the program, a group that also included AAT&T, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Cushman & Wakefield Inc., EMC Corporation, Iron Mountain Incorporated, Modis, NCR Corporation, Universal Health Services, Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
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