RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - Across Central Kentucky, universities honored the veterans on campus. Eastern Kentucky University was just named the top college in the country for veterans by Military Times. EKU President Doug Whitlock, a veteran himself, said the university's pride in its student-veterans led to that ranking.

"One of my great sources of pride over the last several years has been the remarkable job that the people on this campus have done in supporting the educational objectives of our student-veterans," he said.

Student-veterans also said the university goes out of its way to help.

"There hasn't been a situation where if I needed to take off for a VA appointment or if I had some sort of extenuating circumstance to where I needed an extra day on an assignment or I couldn't make it to class that day because of an appointment, they've all been very understanding. That's pretty much been every member of the staff here at Eastern Kentucky," said Matt Rawlings, a student-veteran.

EKU President Doug Whitlock said over the past couple of years, EKU has doubled its student-veteran population from 500 to 1200.

The University of Kentucky also held a veterans luncheon. Officials with the Veterans Resource Center there said events like this help veterans overcome challenges they face coming back to school.

"To keep the message simple, to say, thank you for your service. We appreciate you and we want you to graduate successfully," said Anthony Dotson, director of UK's Veterans Resource Center.