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Many colleges and universities utilize various strategies to help veterans and military-affiliated students make the adjustment and/or transition from military life to student life. Universities may utilize veterans’ service offices, fee waivers, military credit transfers, early access to registration, veteran-specific courses, among others, to increase rates of graduation. After leaving the military, veteran concerns may shift from completing a mission to navigating family life, part- or full-time employment, finances, housing and managing multiple roles. As such, university campus initiatives build student veteran and/or military-affiliated student experiences to help them overcome obstacles regarding persistence towards degree/program completion.
Many students at colleges and universities take longer than four years to complete a degree (e.g., bachelor’s). Among students who are military-affiliated and/or veterans, 44% have taken longer than two years to complete an associates level degree and 39% have taken longer than 5 years to complete a bachelor’s level degree. While student veteran graduation rates are upwards of 52%, these numbers are still below traditional student rates.
Nonetheless, researchers have noted that part of student veteran success derives from values like accountability, responsibility and maturity, persistence, time management skills, and others, gained through military service. Notably, military-to-academic transitions and adjustment can involve “culture shock,” which may leave the student veteran disoriented and isolated. Among student veterans, 44% report several risk factors related to not completing their degrees including: part-time enrollment, full-time employment while enrolled, and family responsibilities. These unique students may also be impacted by the stigma of asking/not asking for help. Indeed, many of these students are non-traditional and may have to navigate campus life while managing social isolation, medical and/or psychiatric issues, stigma, and interactions with civilian peers, faculty, and staff.
Students may “stop out” for various reasons. Stopping out is temporarily taking time off from college or university with the intention of returning to complete the program at a later time. Re-deployment, mobilization, transferring to another military base, promotions, increased work demands, family demands, and medical issues have been reported as reasons for stopping out.
Facilitating Persistence
Persistence in college may be bolstered by academic and financial advising before/after changing majors, conversations regarding changes in funding, and classroom accommodations for disabilities. Campus services can identify and reach out to veterans and/or military-affiliated students on campus – students less likely to attend any campus athletic or social events – and may provide incentives for participating in campus events. Outreach to “stopped-out” and at-risk students may encourage those who have lapsed in enrollment to reengage and return to complete their degrees.
Other avenues for facilitating persistence may also involve military-affiliated student success programming, career counseling, mental health counseling, and staff services to proactively inform student veterans of service offerings, which may streamline discovery and reception of on-campus resources. The support network of an on-campus student veterans’ organization may also prove helpful in mitigating the stresses associated with adjusting to college life.
Collectively, these methods may facilitate the process of changing stigmatizing beliefs, promoting an environment where help seeking is viewed positively and where receiving mental/behavioral health care doesn’t interfere with promotion in rank or security clearance.
Several years ago, the Obama Administration outlined specific means to support veterans and military-affiliated students in institutions of higher learning, namely the 8 Keys to Success. These keys included steps that institutions could implement to help student veterans transition into academic life and persist. Several keys include: creating a culture of trust and connectedness in the campus community, ensuring consistent and sustained support from campus leadership, implementing an early alert system to ensure all veterans receive academic, career, and financial advice before challenges become overwhelming, collaborating with local communities and organizations, including government agencies, to align and coordinate various services for veterans. Also, utilizing data tools to collect information on veterans’ progress, facilitating retention and degree completion, providing comprehensive professional development for faculty and staff on issues and challenges unique to veterans as well as developing systems that ensure sustainability of effective practices for veterans.
Students facing various issues (e.g., financial, personal) may need to be offered intervention services before they stop or drop out to facilitate academic success. For student veterans and/or military-affiliated students who have paused their enrollment, academic advising services, career counseling could be enhanced to offset any derailment of degree plans. Overall, the need for campuses to continue to develop services that encompass and address more of the military-affiliated/veteran experience with regards to campus services (e.g., veterans-only courses, military related student organizations), and to facilitate persistence and degree completion, cannot be overly emphasized.
