ABSTRACT:

“This study considered the factors that student veterans considered when choosing where to attend higher education. This is a report of results from a survey implemented in a nationwide pilot study. Respondents (N = 111) gave greater weight in college choice to items generally associated with college satisfaction, such as cost, program availability, and supports, over “military friendly”-type marketing. These findings are important to those practitioners and institutions serving student veterans, as there are great time and financial costs that result from ineffective approaches to recruiting and retaining students.”

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:

• This study explores the factors that student veterans identified as being the most important when choosing a higher educational institution.
• This nationwide pilot study included an original survey, 111 participant student veterans, and focused on three broad categories of motivating factors: (1) timing of college choice decisions (e.g., when did student choose their institution), (2) information regarding the institutions (e.g., university marketing campaigns), and (3) the opportunities available to student veterans (e.g., military-related scholarships).
• The researchers found that student veterans participating in the survey identified availability of desired academic programs as the most important factor in their college choice decisions while institutions being marketed as “Best for Vets” was less important in college choice decisions.