SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society

What SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society does

SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society is a non-profit academic honor society founded in 2009 and headquartered at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the first and only national honor society in the United States recognizing the service and scholastic achievements of student veterans and active military members enrolled at accredited 2-year and 4-year institutions. The organization operates a chapter-based network model with 400+ active college chapters and over 20,000 cumulative student veteran inductees, offering a 4-tier GPA-based membership system (Alpha 3.75–4.00, Bravo 3.50–3.74, Charlie 3.25–3.49, Delta 3.00–3.24) plus a graduate-level Gold Member tier for veterans with 9+ credit hours and 3.5+ GPA.

The core product is lifetime individual membership, sold at a one-time fee of $35 (raised from $20 in 2018), requiring an unofficial transcript and DD-214 or military orders. Supporting products include institutional chapter memberships ($100 initial application fee), professional memberships ($100 lifetime), honorary memberships (capped at 7% of total membership for non-veteran supporters), the SALUTE National Scholarship Program (launched 2016, evaluated on Service, Academics, Leadership, Unity, Tribute, and Excellence), and a marketplace selling graduation regalia, challenge coins, and certificates. There is no proprietary technology platform; operations run on a standard WordPress website (salute.colostate.edu) and a hosted NBS Store marketplace.

The revenue model is a hybrid of one-time membership/license fees and recurring institutional chapter fees, supplemented by marketplace sales and donations. The go-to-market is community-led: institutional chapters process local inductions, while the national organization recruits new chapters and accepts direct applications from students at non-chapter institutions. The organization is governed by an Executive Steering Committee composed of volunteer directors of veteran services from member colleges, with a small staff of approximately 14 employees based at Colorado State University.

Name

SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society

Legal name

SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society

Website

https://salute.colostate.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society is a non-profit academic honor society founded in 2009 at Colorado State University, operating 400+ college chapters nationwide to recognize the service and scholastic achievements of over 20,000 student veterans through a tiered GPA-based membership system, scholarship program, and graduation regalia marketplace.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Veteran Honor Society Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Veterans Affairs & Military Family Services (BPAIAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Veterans & Military-to-Civilian Transition Programs (EDAAAOAH)

Keywords

• Veteran honor society
• Student veteran recognition
• Academic honor society
• Veteran scholarship program
• Chapter-based membership

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Collins

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Student Membership Fees: One-time lifetime membership fees for student veterans applying through collegiate chapters or national chapter. Fee increased from $20 to $35 effective August 1, 2018.
2. Chapter Membership Fees: Annual or one-time fees charged to colleges and universities to establish and maintain SALUTE chapters. Initial application fee is $100.
3. Professional Membership Fees: Lifetime membership fee for veterans who have graduated and are engaged in their professional career. Fee is $100.
4. Marketplace Sales: Sales of graduation regalia, challenge coins, certificates, and memorabilia through the SALUTE Marketplace (NBS Store). Shipping fees apply for individual certificate delivery ($5.05 effective Feb 12, 2024).
5. Tier Upgrade Fees: $10 fee for members who wish to upgrade to a higher GPA tier level and receive updated materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society is a national non-profit honor society that recognizes the academic achievements of student veterans and active-duty service members at accredited two- and four-year institutions. It offers tiered lifetime individual memberships, institutional chapter memberships for colleges, a national scholarship program, graduation regalia, and professional/honorary memberships through a 400+ chapter network in the United States.

Product overview

SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society operates as a unified honor society product with multiple membership tiers. The core offering includes Individual Student Membership (with a 4-tier GPA-based system) and Chapter/Institutional Membership for schools to establish local chapters. Supporting products include the National Scholarship Program (awarding scholarships based on Service, Academics, Leadership, Unity, Tribute, and Excellence), Graduation Regalia (cords, stoles, challenge coins), Professional Membership (for graduated veterans), and Honorary Membership (for non-veteran supporters). The organization, established in 2009 at Colorado State University, currently has 400 college chapters and has inducted over 20,000 student veterans.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SALUTE Honor Society Membership (Individual Student) Lifetime membership program for military veterans and active duty students with a 3.0+ GPA attending 2-year or 4-year institutions, featuring a 4-tier GPA-based system (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta) and SALUTE Gold Member status for qualifying graduate students.
• SALUTE Honor Society Membership (Chapter/Institutional) Institutional membership allowing accredited 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities to establish local SALUTE chapters that induct and recognize student veterans, with support from national headquarters for ceremonies, peer mentors, and career connections.
• SALUTE National Scholarship Program Financial assistance scholarship program for veteran and active service member students, with selection based on Service, Academics, Leadership, Unity, Tribute, and Excellence criteria, awarded alongside membership in SALUTE National.
• SALUTE Graduation Regalia Distinguishable honor cords, stoles, and challenge coins sold to commemorate SALUTE membership and academic achievement level at graduation ceremonies.
• Professional Membership Lifetime membership option for veterans who have graduated and are engaged in their professional careers, supporting local SALUTE chapters through ongoing engagement.
• Honorary Membership Membership category for up to 7% of total SALUTE membership, available to spouses, dependents, faculty, and community leaders who have made distinctive contributions to the cause of student veterans.

Quantifiable outcome

• 400+ colleges with active chapters
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Warrior-Scholar Project: Warrior-Scholar Project is a nonprofit that runs academic bootcamps and transition support for veterans entering college. It addresses the same student-veteran transition pain point as SALUTE and overlaps on the audience, though it offers coursework rather than recognition.
• Institute for Veterans and Military Families (Syracuse University): IVMF is a university-based (Syracuse) veterans research and program organization that offers career training, entrepreneurship, and policy work for student veterans. Comparable as a university-affiliated veteran-services ecosystem player with scholarship and program overlap.

Direct peers

• Phi Theta Kappa: Phi Theta Kappa is the national honor society for students at two-year colleges. It's the most direct functional analog to SALUTE — a tiered, GPA-based honor society with chapter networks, scholarships, and graduation regalia — and serves a heavily overlapping student-veteran population at community colleges.
• Golden Key International Honour Society: Golden Key is a large collegiate honor society with a tiered membership model, scholarships, and chapter network across U.S. universities. Comparable in structure to SALUTE but broader in scope, serving high-achieving undergraduates rather than specifically veterans.
• Student Veterans of America (SVA): SVA is a national coalition of student-veteran organizations on college campuses with thousands of chapters. It serves the same target population (student veterans at U.S. colleges) and competes for the same chapter-mindshare, leadership attention, and recognition value on campus.
• Alpha Sigma Lambda: Alpha Sigma Lambda is a national honor society specifically for adult and non-traditional learners in higher education. It is comparable to SALUTE in its mission of recognizing non-traditional students (many of whom are veterans) and offers a tiered GPA-based induction model.

Others

• Military Order of the Purple Heart: Purple Heart is a major veterans service organization that provides scholarships and grants to veterans. Comparable as a veteran-benefits/scholarship provider in the same broader ecosystem, though not an academic honor society.
• American Council on Education (ACE): ACE is the founding grant partner of SALUTE (via the ACE/Wal-Mart Foundation Success for Veterans Grant) and is also the higher-education policy body that convenes veteran-serving programs. It is comparable as an ecosystem enabler rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW): VFW is a major national veterans service organization that runs scholarship programs for veteran students. It is a broader incumbent that competes for the same donor and student-veteran attention but is not an academic honor society.
• American Legion: The American Legion is an established national VSO with a long-running scholarship program for veteran dependents and students. Comparable as a broader veteran-services incumbent that competes for veteran-student recognition and donor support.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SALUTEVets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/salute-veterans-national-honor-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society