As a result of President Obama's drawdown of military troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, many service members will be returning to the United States. With service members returning to civilian life and to campuses, the relevance to a changing education environment is enormous both for this population and for today's higher education institutions.…

Colleges, universities, and the communities they serve have always been concerned about students' abilities to pay and the systems of aid to support students' learning. This article reviews the history of aiding student in higher education. Early student- and institutionally-led programs are discussed along with initial philanthropic and…

As the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act (popularly known as the Post-9/11 GI Bill or Chapter 33) begins its second academic year of operation, changes loom on the horizon. While this is no surprise to those who know the history of the original GI Bill, some of the changes will have considerable impact not only on veteran students, but…

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provided $9 billion in education benefits to service-members and veterans in fiscal year 2010, mostly through the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. In providing education benefits, VA relies on State Approving Agencies (SAA) to approve schools; and on schools to report students' enrollment status. US Government…

This Statistics in Brief uses nationally representative data to determine the representation of military students in undergraduate and graduate education and to examine how their demographic and enrollment characteristics compare with their nonmilitary peers. The brief draws upon two nationally representative studies of postsecondary students, the…