Online School And Financial Institution Join Forces To Help Vets

By Robin Culverwell

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An online school has teamed up with a local financial institution to help 150 veterans get back to school and work after serving in the military.

The American College is a Bryn Mawr-based school offering online classes in retirement, estate planning and other financial services.

Now Penn Mutual is allocating $2.5 million to help 150 veterans and their spouses get financial planning designations or graduate degrees.

"The most challenged in the military are those who've just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. An estimated 250,000 veterans could be looking for work, and that number could continue to grow," says Jim Meehan, on the board of Penn Mutual's Center for Veterans Affairs.

Given those numbers, 150 scholarships might sound like a drop in the bucket. But Meehan says that even making employers aware that disciplined and skilled veterans are job-hunting could encourage more to consider hiring veterans.