There are a number of challenges associated with being a military spouse. Military culture prioritizes the needs of service members over those of military spouses. The cost of traversing this path is the sacrifice of personal goals and aspirations to tend to the needs of their service member and other family members. The cultural expectation of military spouses extends to the higher education realm, an area where ample provisions and extensive scholarly research exist on the needs and desires of service members and veterans. Colleges and universities typically have programs and policies geared towards assisting military and veteran students, they place little emphasis on understanding the needs or aspirations of the military spouse student demographic. Furthermore, the majority of military spouses are women, so military and higher education culture perpetuate a systemic inequity based on gender. [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.]