Jim Selbe serves as the Veterans Advocate and Strategic Advisor at Veterans Education Success. Selbe works closely with the legal team helping student veterans, and he assists with advancing policies to improve higher education quality and success for veterans.
Selbe retired from the United States Marine Corps in 2000 at the rank of Master Sergeant, after 20 years of active-duty service. He and his wife, a Marine Corps veteran herself, raised their family through multiple deployments and overseas assignments including Okinawa, Korea, Philippines, South America, Norway, Australia, and Africa. His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal (x3), Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Navy Arctic Service Ribbon, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (x6).
Selbe brings more than 20 years of higher education expertise for veterans. He began his career in higher education in 2000 as the Regional Director for Troops to Teachers for Virginia and Washington, D.C. He then joined the American Council on Education, where he served as Director of Military Programs and then Vice President for Lifelong Learning. He subsequently served the University of Maryland University College as Vice President for Military Programs and then Senior Vice President for Partnerships, Marketing, and Enrollment Management. Just prior to joining Veterans Education Success, Selbe served as Chief Operating Officer of Service to School.
Selbe is a direct beneficiary of the military’s Tuition Assistance program and of the GI Bill. These programs provided the resources he needed to become the first in his family to go to college. Selbe holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from National Louis University and a Masters of Education in Counseling from University of Maryland College Park.