Veterans Seeking Higher Education

Increased military conflicts, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, have created an rise in the number of veteran students who have experienced combat and will enroll in institutions utilizing the G.I. Bill benefits. Higher education institutions have the goal of developing all of their students holistically and guiding them to persist. Supporting diverse populations requires the knowledge and implementation of programs that will overlap services among the varied sub-groups of students to remain cost effective. Veterans returning to higher education warrant the extra services that can be provided by an institution and defining the appropriate services should be a priority for each institution. Unfortunately there is not just one formula for all the schools to model their programs after, as each institution and student is unique in a population of veterans.

The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the G.I. Bill, was created to “provide a short-term measure by which the federal government could mitigate the pressure of hundreds of thousands of returning war veterans becoming job seekers in a saturated national market” (Schuh, J. H., Jones, S. R., Harper, S. R., & Associates, 2011, p. 13). Post-secondary education had become the stepping stone for veterans to assimilate back into civilian life. The unexpected success of the program brought about the needs for academic integrity. Schools had to meet certain expectations to be included in the G.I. Bill scholarship program. Post-secondary institutions hungry for the influx of federal money began to construct their programming to meet the needs of the veteran students. They continue to adjust their programs to maintain alignment with the evolvement of the G....

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...nderstanding the needs of the student population and knowing when veteran students start to fall behind can help get additional services to these veteran students.

Many times students may have ADA issues when returning from active duty. These issues may or may not have been diagnosed upon discharge. It is important to be familiar with how the law affects student veterans and where Veterans Affairs may be able to effectively assist with the needs of these disabled student veterans.

Many times veterans returning from active duty are unaware of the fact that their military training may sell them short in the civilian side of the job market. While there are many positive aspects of hiring a veteran, many times career skills for civilian jobs need to be developed. Career Services can create sessions to successfully integrate the military back into civilian jobs.