Given that student veterans expressed an appreciation for a central location they could visit with questions and concerns, universities and colleges should consider opening student veteran offices. University administrators and professionals must understand common challenges veterans face as they enter IHEs, including financial aid, disability, and active off-campus lives. Some student veterans expressed that offices, such as the Bursar’s Office and the Registrar’s Office, did not communicate consistently or clearly, resulting in issues with benefits, payment of tuition and fees, and allocation of transfer credits. Therefore, offices providing student services should better coordinate. Improving tracking and data management services could promote better coordination, as well as provide new opportunities to identify students and offer them resources and support. Several students voiced frustrations with recognition of their military experiences and acceptance of transfer credits from other IHEs. While acknowledging the difficulty and frustration in this process, some school personnel explained limited credits were accepted because students needed the foundational courses in order to excel in the upper-level courses. Thus, universities should better communicate the reasons behind their credit transfer and allocation decisions. Finally, institutions of higher education should offer more avenues and opportunities for support from peers, faculty, and campus community.

For Policy

Currently, the VA offers several veteran support groups, including rehabilitation and transitional support. To ensure student veterans receive necessary support, the VA might offer additional support groups for veterans pursuing degrees. IHEs without student veteran centers cited the reason for not having a center was limited funding. To ensure users of the post-9/11 GI Bill receive adequate support on college campuses, federal and state policymakers might provide additional financial support to institutions that are struggling to offer a student veteran office/center. Offering such funding could allow cash- strapped schools to provide student veterans beneficial services and implement tracking systems.

For Future Research

Given that this work is qualitative, the findings are not generalizable. It is important to note that student veterans’ experiences can vary, and future studies should examine whether these findings are consistent when data are analyzed by race, sex, income level, sexual orientation, and other demographic
factors. In this study, student veterans’ experiences and concerns sometimes varied by the type of institution they were currently attending. Considering the role for-profit colleges have
on veteran education, future studies should include students and personnel at for-profit schools to gain better understanding of how to support students transitioning into these contexts. Schlossberg’s transition theory asserts that a change is only a transition when one views it as a transition. Thus, future researchers must continue to focus on student veterans’ perceptions and views on the changes they undergo when pursuing a degree, and how these transitions affect their experiences with IHEs. Also, issues facing student veterans with a disability or impairment should be studied to determine how IHEs can better support students with additional challenges as they transition.