Veterans Crave More Support in Academia, Study Finds

As veterans return home from tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, many of them are taking advantage of military education benefits and enrolling in college. In fact, record numbers of veterans are taking classes at colleges and universities using their Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill veteran education benefits. These benefits make college tuition more affordable and accessible to veterans than ever before.

But how are these veterans faring as students?

A study published last week by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) took a look at student interest in academic life. The College Student Report surveyed nearly 362,000 college freshman and seniors at 564 U.S. colleges and institutions--and for the first time, included students who served in the Armed Forces. The NSSE study, now in its 11th year, uncovered several interesting facts about veteran students.

"Our findings suggest that colleges and universities need to make special efforts to identify and address the needs of their student veterans," Alexander C. McCormick, NSSE director and associate professor of education at Indiana University said in a press release announcing the results. "They make up a small share of the undergraduate population, but it is an important group that is likely to grow under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, or the 'new GI Bill.'"

The Student Veteran: Life in the Academic World

The NSSE study polled more than 11,000 veterans, including 4,680 (44% of the sample) who had been in combat in their tours of duty. Three-quarters of veterans polled were in their senior year, and the remaining were freshmen. The study found that:

• Males are the majority. Most veteran students attending college using military education benefits are male--70 percent for non-combat freshman, and 62 percent for non-combat seniors. More than three-quarters of combat veterans attending college are male.
• Veteran students are older. Most veteran students, it turns out, are older than many of their peers.
• The path to the degree may not be conventional. Many are enrolled part-time and are either transfer students or distance learners.
• Veteran students are more likely to be disabled. One in five combat veterans attending college has some type of disability compared to one in 10 non-veterans.
• Public schools rule for vets. The majority of veteran students, nearly two-thirds, were enrolled in public universities. Many of these public schools are GI Bill-friendly schools and offer increased veteran support and additional financial aid, such as the Yellow Ribbon Program, to cover total tuition costs.

Veteran Students: How They Spend Their Time

The NSSE study of veterans found that most veterans in their senior year were more likely to have obligations, such as families or jobs that detracted from student pursuits. Non-veteran students spent about 45 hours per week either studying, relaxing, or socializing, compared to 52 hours for non-combat veterans and 59 hours for combat vets.

College Life for Veteran Students

Veterans, the study found, are not as engaged in college life as non-veteran students. First-year non-combat veteran students often did not pursue close relationships with their teachers and other faculty, and combat veterans who were beginning their college careers felt they did not receive as much support on campus as their non-veteran peers.

Veterans in their senior year were even less engaged than their freshmen counterparts, and in large part declined to form deeper relationships with faculty members. Additionally, these veterans felt even more isolated on college campuses than did non-veterans.

Student Engagement Study Conclusions

With servicemembers flocking to higher education in greater numbers, degree-granting universities and colleges have been hard-pressed to serve the needs of veteran students, many of whom require additional support to successfully navigate academic life. The NSSE study concludes that colleges and universities must strive to instill more effective ways of helping former servicemembers and create more supportive environments to promote veterans' academic success.

"I could pay anyone to go to college," Brian Hawthorne, an Iraq veteran and graduate student at George Washington University told the Washington Post. "It's the services that keep veterans in school."

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