SAN MARCOS, Texas – More and more veterans are choosing Texas State University after they leave the service.

The website Military-Friendly ranked Texas State as the number one Tier-Two school for veterans in the country. 

After four years of service, James Lambert retired from the Army.

"You go from an extremely structured environment to pure chaos, pretty much," said Lambert.  

Well into his 30's, Lambert enrolled at Texas State to work towards a degree in social work.

"I'm a non-traditional student, obviously. Single parent. Didn't connect with any of my classmates, so isolated,” said Lambert. “It took me a little bit to find some of the other vets here on campus, but when I did, they told me about the veterans lounge."

Soon after Lambert discovered the university offered one-on-one tutoring for veterans on the fourth floor of the library. The school also offers free financial planning, behavioral counseling and therapy for veterans too.

Many of the services are run by the Veterans Advisory Council. On the council board is social work professor, Dr. Katherine Selber, who knows the struggles veteran students face first-hand.  

"I have a son who was a Major in the Air Force, and he actually commissioned out of Texas State. And he has had five combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He's spent over 1,200 days there. And he is now in South Korea. He is the reason I initially got involved, but as I tell him, it's much bigger than him now," said Dr. Selber.  

Dr. Selber’s goal is to see veteran students like Lambert succeed.

After utilizing the school’s veteran services, not only did Lambert get a bachelor’s degree, but now he is working on his masters.

"As I got more involved, my grades actually improved. My temperament improved," said Lambert. "My hope is to help other vets not have to deal with the issues I dealt with getting out, trouble finding stuff, and help better the system."