Persistence as it pertained to traditional college students had been widely researched, but little was known about persistence and the role of resilience and engagement for veteran students experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder while enrolled in online degree programs. The focus of the study was to understand the lived experiences of veteran students enrolled in online degree programs and deployed to war zones while coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. Among many issues relating to studying in an online environment, veterans experienced difficulties focusing and concentrating on studies as a result of war zone distractions. The research method was qualitative and the specific research design was phenomenology. The interviews were audio-taped face-to-face conversational interviews with students from military backgrounds enrolled in online degree programs. The sample size consisted of ten veteran students enrolled in online degree programs coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. The data analysis methods included review of documents; recorded transcripts from audio-taped data transcribed into original texts, coding and analyzing data to note emerging themes and codes from each unit for further interpretation and analysis. Finally, some of the most consistent issues reported among participants were inability to focus, retaining information and coping with anxiety which led to more serious problems while coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]