Indiana Kelley: An MBA Guide for Veterans

The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University offers a Full-Time MBA with a +Flex option, an active Veterans Club, and an alumni network of more than 141,000 people. This profile was shared directly by Adam Brickens, Admissions Counselor and Veterans Club President, to help veterans considering business school understand what the experience really looks like.

"I would say that Kelley is a community. This can be especially important to veterans as they transition back into academic and civilian life. Your classmates, career coaches, faculty, and the program office staff all know your name and support you in meeting your professional and personal goals during the MBA."

The program's experiential learning, through its Career Foundation Academies and the GLOBASE international consulting program, gives students the chance to put their academic knowledge into practice and sets them up to succeed in their internships and beyond. Kelley also points to the program's return on investment and the low cost of living in Bloomington, a university town that is family-friendly with plenty to do outside the classroom.

Which military backgrounds thrive

At Kelley, all kinds of military profiles thrive, from soldiers and junior NCOs to junior and field-grade officers. In the last three classes, NCOs and field-grade officers have gone into consulting, an Army Ranger moved into operations, and an Air Force reservist went into consumer marketing.

Kelley veteran students from all ranks and branches go on to a wide range of successful career outcomes.

Your first six months

Your MBA experience starts before classes begin. During the Me, Inc. orientation, veterans relocate to Bloomington, connect with classmates, and start thinking through how their military experience translates to business careers. You are also introduced to the Veterans Club, career coaches, alumni, and other students who have already made the transition.

Kelley has an active Partners Club for those relocating with families, and Bloomington is consistently ranked as a top family-friendly place to live.

During the first month of classes, you start your core courses and join a Career Foundation Academy, where you build industry knowledge, expand your network, meet employers, and work on a consulting project related to your career interests. Career development starts immediately and includes one-on-one coaching throughout the program.

The first several months focus on building business fundamentals while preparing for recruiting. By spring, most veterans are actively interviewing for internships. As recruiting wraps up, students shift toward experiential learning, including the GLOBASE global consulting program, before beginning their summer internships.

Key resources for veterans

Veterans at Kelley rely on a strong support network of career coaches, second-year and alumni veterans, and Academy directors. These are the people veterans turn to for honest advice, industry insight, and feedback throughout recruiting. They help translate military experience into language that resonates with employers, answer questions that can feel difficult to ask in networking conversations, and share firsthand perspectives on specific companies, internships, and career paths.

Indiana University is also recognized as a Collegiate Purple Star campus and is home to more than 500 veterans and nearly 750 military spouses and dependents.

Where veteran alumni land

Recent veteran alumni have moved through the Kelley MBA into roles such as:

• Corporate Strategy at Bank of America
• Consulting at Deloitte, PwC, and Accenture
• The Supply Chain Strategy Leadership Development Program at Emerson
• The Bank & Audit Fellowship at USAA
• The Operational Excellence Leadership Development Program at Avient
• Program Management at the Applied Research Institute
• Finance Strategy at Walmart

For a firsthand account, read Army veteran Carl Knowlton's story of moving from intelligence operations to business strategy on the Kelley blog.

Geographic reach

Kelley graduates work throughout the United States, with slightly higher representation in the Midwest. Kelley's network of more than 141,000 alumni, which the school describes as the largest business school alumni network in the world, means that wherever you want to go, you will find support to get there.

Financial planning and funding

Kelley is a public university, which the school notes lets veterans use their GI Bill® and keep any scholarship awards, and it describes the program as having the highest ROI of any MBA. Kelley MBA programs accept eligible VA education benefits, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill® with no institutional cap, and waive the $75 application fee for military and veteran applicants.

Indiana University participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program. For students with 100% GI Bill® eligibility, the Yellow Ribbon Program can cover some or all of their out-of-state tuition through a combination of institution and Department of Veterans Affairs funding. Military-connected applicants are also automatically considered for additional scholarships and fellowships beyond their VA benefits.

The +Flex option lets second-year students finish their MBA online and start working full-time before graduation, if they opt in before their second year begins.

Traditions and community

Kelley's veteran community is close-knit by design:

• Veterans Club events. The club hosts events for students and their families to connect, including an annual Veterans Day picnic.
• Peer mentoring. Given the size of the program, it is easy to get to know your classmates, and Kelley's veterans are proactive in mentoring incoming students. This informal yet intentional network shapes the experience at Kelley.

Connect with the program

• Program: Kelley School of Business Full-Time +Flex MBA, Indiana University
• Admissions and Veterans Club contact: Adam Brickens, Admissions Counselor and Veterans Club President, 2nd Year MBA (abricken@iu.edu)
• Student contact: Keenan Reilly, Veterans Club VP, 2nd Year MBA (khreilly@iu.edu)
• Student contact: Devlin Stalion, 1st Year MBA (dstalion@iu.edu)
• Alumni contact: James Olk, Class of 2025