DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire is one of about 100 colleges and universities across the country participating in a new initiative to help students prepare for and apply to college, which includes an application fee waiver for members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success is committed to making college a reality for all students through its set of free online college planning tools, MyCoalition, that helps them learn about, prepare for, and apply to college.

“The coalition application provides an alternative to the common app for students to those schools where access and affordability are priorities and graduation rates are high, and it also provides a much more comprehensive experience,” said Rob McGann, director of admissions at UNH. “There are a lot of resources and students can begin accessing the platform in the 9^th grade.”

UNH has a 78 percent graduation rate over six years, one of the highest in public universities in the country. There are currently 302 veterans, active duty service members, National Guard and reservists enrolled at UNH.

Participating coalition colleges and universities, including UNH, will allow veterans and current service members to apply for free through the coalition’s online application; the waiver will be available in 2018 for students applying for the 2019-2020 academic year.

“This is a great opportunity for veterans and for enlisted men and women — and also for our members,” said Annie Reznik, executive director of the Coalition, whose board introduced the waiver to honor the military service of veterans and encourage more veterans to apply to and graduate from college.

“Only four percent of all undergraduate students are veterans, and less than one-third of those veterans enroll at a four-year public or private university,” said Reznik. “Our hope is that this waiver will not only inspire more veterans to apply to coalition schools, but also convey that our members greatly value their service to our country, and now want to serve them. Plus, with their excellent track record of supporting students — and the graduation rates to prove it — coalition schools are truly smart college choices for veterans.”

The fee waiver is easy to use: applicants indicate their status as “currently serving” or “previously served” in the U. S. Armed Forces, and a list of member schools that honor the waiver is listed. Qualifying students automatically bypass the payment screen when they submit their application. UNH is one of the schools that offers a fee waiver.