This manuscript focuses on student veterans' best option to start their post-high-school education: attending community colleges. It illustrates this point using the story of the author, a US Army combat veteran who began his career at a community college, and other veterans who also began their college careers at the community college. Using…

Higher education in the United States is currently grappling with two significant challenges that threaten its sustainability: the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a decline in enrollments, and the 2023 Supreme Court decision to prohibit affirmative action in college admissions. This essay explores how these challenges…

Numerous stereotypes of the veteran population miss the diverse backgrounds of veterans as a group, particularly that one quarter of known veterans are living in rural communities across the United States (VA, 2022). Despite the Federal focus on veteran rural health, there needs to be more literature available on veteran success in community…

Abstract Educators are encouraged to engage military veterans enrolling in college in the use of "expressive writing" and related assignments as curriculum interventions to assist these student veterans in their transition from military to civilian life. This article describes semester-long studies conducted in 2015, 2016, and 2017 in…

The transitioning of veterans from the "military world" to "the civilian world" and by extension the civilian workforce is the "ultimate career transition." However, to facilitate this challenge, most veterans often utilize higher education as a transitional tool to qualify themselves with credentials that are not…

Urban and metropolitan colleges and universities can play an important role in innovative, equitable community revitalization. This is especially true for universities that also function as anchor institutions; there is both a challenge and an opportunity for such urban anchors to conduct their work in a manner that engages the community proximate…

Several federal agencies, including the Small Business Administration (SBA), provide training and other assistance to veterans seeking civilian employment. In recent years, the unemployment rate among veterans as a whole has generally been similar to or lower than the unemployment rate for nonveterans 18 years and older. However, veterans who have…

The Post 9/11 GI Bill (PGIB) is among the largest and most generous college subsidies enacted thus far in the U.S. We examine the impact of the PGIB on veterans' college-going, degree completion, federal education tax benefit utilization, and long run earnings. Among veterans potentially induced to enroll, the introduction of the PGIB raised…

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clemson University Paralympic Soccer program transitioned its in-person soccer camps for veterans with a disability to a virtual format. Providing veterans with experience playing the game rather than just learning about the game in a classroom environment is an effective way to increase buy-in, activity,…

The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides educational assistance to veterans and certain dependents. Veterans have had educational benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs since World War II, but no prior GI bill programmes have been as comprehensive or administratively complex. Covered benefits include all tuition and fees at any public…

The Post-9/11 GI Bill is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA's) largest educational program. It provides payments for eligible veterans to cover tuition and fees, housing and other costs while they pursue a higher education. However, for some veterans this pursuit is interrupted when the school they attend unexpectedly closes. This testimony…

Retiring senior military officers (SMO) are a specific group of adult learners in role transition. SMOs have the shared experience of high-level leadership roles, senior managerial experiences, and military rank. They experience some similar transition challenges as other military affiliated learners, such as military-civilian culture; however, in…

The United States military is one of the most notable developers of civilian workforce talent. Yet, approximately one third of post 9/11 veterans retain a personal narrative of military identity that they often find conflicts with civilian society--and as a result, with a civilian career. Earlier studies on veteran career transition have…

Using data from four waves of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016, this study examines the effect of the PGIB on veterans' student loans. Results indicate that the PGIB has significantly affected veteran students' borrowing behavior, with an average $1,100 reduction in Stafford Loans. Veteran students…

The student veteran population is comprised of a diverse group of people that are often considered members of other sub-populations within the collegiate student body, including those who are racially minoritized and nontraditional students. With enrollment numbers for student veterans continuing to rise, following a decade-long pattern, easing…