Military experience alone is no longer enough to replace a college degree for many civilian jobs, leaving nearly 15% of transitioning veterans at a disadvantage without higher education credentials. This study explored how active-duty Marines decide whether to pursue postsecondary education and assessed the role of the voluntary education (VolED)…

Military spouses' access to education is greatly impacted by the demands of their unique and often complex lifestyles. If postsecondary education leaders had a greater understanding of this population and their needs, challenges, and successes, they could cultivate an environment of learning rooted in student success, accessibility, and equity.…

Higher learning institutions have encountered increasing student-veteran enrollment rates due to the surge of servicemembers discharged from the military in recent years. Community colleges have also experienced increased rates of student veterans choosing two-year institutions either to pursue a technical degree or to enroll in courses…

Veterans and service members enter higher education institutions with a unique set of challenges and opportunities. After World War II, institutions struggled to find a way to help these students, and as classrooms swelled, policies and services had to be created to assist in their transition. Over time, best practices immerged to help aid this…

The aim of this hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is to foster a productive conversation about how schools are meeting the needs of veterans and service members, what more can be done to ensure veterans are not putting themselves into financial trouble in order to get an education and, ultimately identify what the…

This review explores the expanding role of federal aid policy considered from a contemporary and social justice perspective. It highlights recent trends in aid policy as well as difficulties that arise from the current system. Next, the review takes up an analysis of current aid policy that carefully considers equity and efficiency as primary…

The white paper synthesizes existing literature around higher education for formerly incarcerated individuals and describes the need for more work in this area. More than 650,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons and return to the community each year. However, most programming and research have been concentrated on…

Active duty United States soldiers encounter unimaginable stressors and challenges throughout their military career. Many of these soldiers are also simultaneously working to achieve a long-term goal of obtaining post-secondary education, yet they face unique challenges due to the demands of military service that traditional students do not.…

This testimony was presented before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on March 17, 2015. To inform the Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs' administration of its education programs, and the educational and training needs of post-9/11 veterans, the presenters offered the statement in…

Education has until recently promoted social mobility, broad economic growth, and democracy. However, modern universities direct policy and resources toward criteria that exacerbate income inequality and reduce social mobility. Online education can make education more socially, geographically, temporally, and financially accessible, impacting the…

This article is an analysis of the unique needs of returning service members at the college or university level that impact the teaching decisions made by instructors. The article also discusses the challenges that service members are individually addressing while acclimating themselves to their new environment of learning. With the reduction in…

Federal education benefits for veterans represent a substantial investment--$18 billion since 2009 under the Post-9/11 GI Bill--in the development of a skilled American workforce. Unfortunately, this investment does not always pay off because many veterans encounter serious obstacles as they attempt to navigate the higher education system and the…

Over the years, some military veterans have been influenced by barriers, preventing them from using their educational benefits. Any active duty member or military veteran could have been exposed to and influenced by these barriers and become unmotivated and not use or discontinue using these benefits. If veterans do not use their educational…

The purpose of Career Development in Higher Education is to provide a broad and in-depth look at the field of career development as it applies to individuals involved in higher education activities, in a variety of educational and vocational training settings. The book will examine some of the field's major themes, approaches and assumptions using…