Short Summary

Valor Academic is dedicated to improving college graduation rates for Veterans of the United States military. Each year the US Government spends ~$11B on veterans education benefits, while only ~58% of those veterans are actually graduating from college with a degree. Veterans can do better, the Universities can do better, and our tax payer dollars can be put to better use. The Valor Academic Podcast is just one avenue of improving veteran performance in college. Through dynamic interviews with college admissions officers, directors of military programs, leading educators, and elite graduates from the top universities in the country, we provide content to help improve veterans education outcomes. Your support will help us ensure college success for our nations veterans!

The founder, Chad Rairie, is a US Marine Corps combat veteran, Ivy League graduate, Fortune 100 consultant, and advocate for improvements in veterans education. He founded Valor Academic with the goal of improving veterans graduation rates and improving the trajectory of veterans lives.

Valor Academic assists veterans with the entire college process, from application, to matriculation, transfers, college success strategies, graduate school considerations; provides university policy consultation and retention programs, is developing multiple podcasts focused on the specific needs of veterans with a mobile podcast studio (in development – pictures included), and conducts research with the goal of improving the active duty Transition Assistance Program (TAPs) for the US DoD.

The Impact

Veterans are dramatically underrepresented at our nations most elite colleges. By supporting the development of Valor Academic you are providing veterans valuable access to the information they need to succeed in college and promote their future career success, provide for their families, find their purpose, and provide a better future for themselves and their children.

We have worked with dozens of veterans charities, we support them and promote them, but they are not meeting all the needs of the community. Rather than competing with them for scarce donated resources, we are building Valor Academic Success, Inc. and its associated entities (podcasts) as a private sector business that can partner with universities, charities, and government agencies, to provide better outcomes for our nations veterans. Our Veterans have served us, and this is our opportunity to repay that dedication and bravery.

Risks & Challenges

Valor Academic exists to help veterans to succeed in college, and to produce meaningful reforms to the US education system, that improves veteran outcomes. Our goal is to host constructive dialogues with universities, colleges, and trade schools that highlight the opportunity an education at their institution can bring, while always being authentic and truthful with ourselves and our audience. We are always respectful, but challenge individuals who lack authenticity with our audience.

We will rock the boat! Valor Academic will challenge the individuals appearing on the podcast and push back against certain narratives that are popular in higher education. We also advocate for trade schools and other opportunities for veterans to utilize their education benefits in a way to maximize their opportunity. College is not the only path to success, or the only way to utilize benefits. We work with veterans to determine the best path for them, and help them achieve it. Because we challenge traditional education narratives, we may at times struggle to gain access to certain colleges and universities.

We have developed some amazing, trusted, relationships with multiple veterans organizations, elite universities, and their directors of military programming. They know that we will give them a fair and reasonable opportunity to reach the veteran community, and recruit them to their University.

Additionally, much of the insights gained will be developed into additional audio, video, and text content, we can provide directly to veterans for their use and knowledge, as they apply to, transfer to, and matriculate to colleges, universities, and other certified programs.

What We Need & What You Get

Valor Academic has invested significantly in developing a Mobile Podcast Studio to facilitate studio quality interviews with top tier collegiate officials, veterans, military leaders, and education experts around the country on college campuses and at US military bases.

We are seeking $150,000 to fund completion of our mobile podcast studio, content development, , travel costs to reach guests, podcast editing and production, and partial salary for staff. The founder will take a leave of absence from his corporate career for 6-12 months, and bring on staff to create content, interview guests in person around the country, publish content on multiple streaming services and platforms, and most importantly continue to provide 1-on-1 services for veterans engaging Valor Academic and the podcast to improve their education outcomes. We will also utilize this time to sell our consulting services through multiple avenues to colleges and universities, the US Govt, advertisers, and to continue to develop revenue generating strategic partnerships.

As a contributor, you have the opportunity to help improve the lives of thousands of military service members, and bring reform to the academic system through the inclusion of more veteran voices on campus. Many veterans are first generation college graduates, and their education provides the opportunity to change the trajectory for themselves, their families, and future generations.

Each Contributor will receive exclusive updates on our progress and journey, receive previews to our upcoming content, and will receive a digital thank you. With the selection of specific perks, you can receive a number of terrific gifts, and even provide Valor Academic services directly to a veteran through an access code, you can provide to a veteran, or direct Valor Academic to provide to the next veteran seeking assistance on their education journey.

For our Valor Academic Sponsors, your contributions in exchange for advertisement are ‘Evergreen’ content, and will exist for the life of this business. If the content receives 5,000 views or 5M views, your sponsorship stays in place in perpetuity at that one time fee, generating an evergreen return for you and your company.

Valor Academic is a for-profit company working to improve veteran graduation rates. All funds received will facilitate the development of content that assists veterans in pursuit of their education, to perform meaningful research on education reform, and to improve veteran graduation rates. All content created as part of this effort will be published, or will contribute to valuable ongoing research that is used to help our nations veterans, improve education awareness for veterans and our active service members, and contributes to improved education outcomes.

Other Ways You Can Help

Times are tough, if you cannot contribute monetarily, but would like to get involved in our mission, please contact us at info@valoracademic.com or share the Podcast and Crowd Funding campaign with your personal, and professional communities.

Please share our campaign on your favorite social media sites, or with your personal and professional networks through the Indiegogo share tools.

Please take a minute to like and follow us on social media @ValorAcademic on all major platforms: IG, X (Formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Once released, please listen to our podcast episodes and give us a follow. If you like what you hear, please share them with your family, friends, and a veteran who might benefit from the information.For more information on our company and services, please visit our website.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. We hope that you will engage with us on any or all of our platforms, and help us serve our fellow veterans as they seek to improve their life through the pursuit of an education!