I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome everyone to our re-vamped blog on military education, which has been updated and tweaked along with the Military Education Benefits for College website. I would be remiss if I didn't thank our web developer Chris Williams for the very hard work that went into making it go smoothly. Looking forward to making this the resource for discussion on veteran education topics!
Ever since there has been higher learning it seems there have been attempts to gauge the effectiveness of future, current and former military minds in traditional classroom settings. With military prep schools and service academies being deemed model higher learning institutions and the emergence of veterans on traditional campuses at a growing rate transforming the populations of college campuses nationwide, the overwhelming majority of studies done on this topic have pointed to a positive correlation between the two.
But does one's military service necessarily make for a more engaged student?
A recent study tackled this topic and was featured in Inside HigherEd. Among the key points of interest from this study, courtesy of the Indiana University's School of Education, were that although this study has been out for over a decade, this is the first time that students who were or are currently in the military were studied. This is not as remarkable as it seems considering that until recently veterans have comprised about 3.5% of students on average at college campuses. However, with the recent influx of returning veterans from two wars in the Middle East, the declining economy and the new Post 9/11 GI Bill it is plausible that this number could easily exceed 5% in the very near future if it hasn't already.
The difference in the veteran student from a demographic standpoint was also noted in the study, including the fact that the veteran student is older, often male and tends to gravitate towards a smaller college often in a distant learning format.
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The primary finding of the article was that the veteran student spent an equal amount of time studying as their non-veteran peers, but was often less engaged in the university as a whole--this despite of being pleased with their college experience overall.
This could be attributed to a number of reasons:
These reasons are all important and eventually leads the the survey director to an interesting conclusion: While the veteran student for the most part is successful and happy with their college experience, there is still a disconnect felt by them in the overall higher education experience.
Why would this be the case? Part of this may be attributed to the slow recognition of the veteran student population as a legitimate and diverse group in the student population, coupled with the sudden influx of veterans to colleges for the aforementioned reasons. As the rapid rise of veteran students in today's classrooms becomes a reality, college campuses are forced to react to these changes with limited resources. Several schools do not have a functioning Veterans Affairs department with a trained VA liaison for the student to use as a resource and guide to deal with issues indigenous to veteran students. Many schools have these positions occupied by financial aid or admissions persons who may be tasked to do many other jobs besides focus on the veteran student, which can make support difficult. Furthermore, though the draft was eliminated well over three decades ago ending the protests on campuses nationwide, some colleges still may have a population that is slow to accept veteran presence on campuses, if not downright against the notion altogether.
Additionally, the structure of universities themselves often do not mix well with the nature of the veteran student. Well versed in the chain-of-command of their service branch and it's structure, the varying and murky hierarchical structure of college administrations can seem daunting to veteran students, particularly the older students who haven't ventured into the classroom in several years. This can lead to an attempt to navigate the college experience on their own based on an adapt and overcome ethos, which of course can lead to success due to sheer will and determination--or failure due to lack of support.
Either way, it shows that there may be a possible disconnect between the needs of the veteran student and the ability of colleges to assist them. This could lead to a dramatic shift in the outcome of this survey to the point where veteran students may feel alienated, or worse, abandoned by their college administration and peers which, though unintentional, could lead to difficulties down the road. The harm that could be caused by this won't be realized until we see the first significant data from this increase in students fueled by the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which may not be available for another year.
It's my hope that the colleges that look at this study feel some sense of relief that damage has not been done to the satisfaction of veteran students in classrooms nationwide. However, it is important they don't use it as an opportunity for complacency but rather a call to action to avoid the potential alienation of the veteran student. Bringing on dedicated and trained Veterans Affairs liaisons as a requirement to universities with a large enough veteran population would be a start and would offer the veteran student guidance to help guide them through the academic process and act as a bullhorn to help them resolve any conflicts or issues that may arise. This would not only improve on the already high satisfaction of the college experience, but also avoid the possibility of these positive results declining significantly.