1. ON THE EDUCATION FRONT Issue 1
ON THE
EDUCATION
FRONT
Critical Higher
Education Policy for
Student Veterans
March 31, 2015
FIGHTING FOR YOUR EDUCATION IN THE PRESS
Executive Summary
Military veterans entering college
face a tougher transition than
most college students going to
college for the first time. The
adjustment from home life to
college life can be difficult for
many non-veteran students as
they learn to adapt to independent
living in a new environment with
new demands. The stress is high,
but universities and colleges
facilitate their transition, lowering
the stress, through new student
orientations designed to support
and plan for the change in
students’ lives.
However, military veterans enter
college with a completely new set
of issues that compound their
stress and sometimes even thwart
their successful transition to
college. Not only is the veteran
transitioning locations and looking
for friends, but they also come
from an extremely differently way
of life and many bear the scars
from recent physical and
emotional trauma. Therefore, due
to the significantly different needs
of student veterans compared to
traditional incoming freshmen, it is
highly recommended that a
veteran-specific orientation be
offered by the institution to
address this population directly.
Currently the only veteran-specific
part of the UH orientation is an
hour long briefing on veteran
benefits, organizations, and
policies (Bradberry, 2015).
Therefore, it is in the best interest
of more than 1,600 student
veterans that the University of
Houston implement a policy
creating a veteran-specific
orientation to properly transition
student veterans from their
military life to their scholastic life.
NBC News
“Thousands of veterans failing in
latest battlefield: college”
Student Veterans of America
“Scholarship recipients, athletes, and
other special-interest groups have a
tailored orientation program to
welcome them to a university, but
veterans – many who have fought for
their own country – aren’t given the
same courtesy.”
- Rodrigo Garcia, Chairman
Call for Veteran-Specific
Orientation Policy at UH
by Ian Todd

2. ON THE EDUCATION FRONT | Issue 1 2
Overview of the Issues
Veterans are not successfully
transitioning from the battlefield to
college. News headlines have
highlighted the issue over the past
few years such as “thousands of
veterans failing in latest
battlefield: college” (Briggs, 2012),
“colleges struggle with turning
veterans into graduates” (Cahn,
2014), or “veterans’ college drop-
out rate soars” (Wood, 2012).
Drop-out rates for college
veterans have been quoted as
high as 88 percent plus a student
veteran suicide rate of over 14
percent (Wood, 2012). According
to the National Center for
Educational Statistics in 2011,
51.7% of student veterans
completed college; whereas, the
national four-year graduation rate
for non-veterans was 59%
(Zoroya, 2014).
But to help veterans transition into
college properly, administrators
and institutions must understand
them. As less than one percent of
the population, veterans are one
of the most underrepresented
minorities in America (Hammond,
2013). Their culture, which is
dominated by codes of honor,
hardship, violence, comradery,
and complete authoritarian
structure, is completely foreign to
most citizens, who can only
empathize with what glimpses
they have seen in movies.
Beyond the cultural differences,
veterans have difficulty adapting
due also in part to systematic
problems including but not limited
to the following:
 Aggressive recruiting of
veterans by non-accredited,
for-profit institutions that seek
veterans’ GI Bill dollars
(Jacobs, 2012).
 Academic skills and
knowledge are out of practice,
due to the recent long wars,
some student veterans have
been out of the classroom for
over a decade (Tomar, 2013).
 Many are combat wounded,
physically, mentally, and/or
emotionally. Six out of ten
veterans experience “frequent
incidents of irritability or
outbursts of anger” (Pew
Research Center, 2012).
“Thousands of
veterans failing in
latest battlefield:
college”
 The Post-9/11 GI Bill does not
effectively cover family
expenses and 66% of student
veterans experienced trouble
attending school and
supporting dependents
(Department of Veteran
Affairs, 2015).
 Difficulty receiving credit for
military coursework or training,
even though the American
Council on Education has set
up guidelines for “evaluating
the educational experiences of
Service Members”
(Department of Veteran
Affairs, 2015).
 A study by the American
Council on Education (ACE)
determined that student
veterans “attending
baccalaureate-level
institutions are older and more
likely to be first-generation
students and students of color
than their nonveteran/civilian
student peers” and the study
also showed that veterans “did
not feel as supported by their
institutions” (Kim & Cole,
2013).
 Katopes (2009) noted that
veterans are highly self-
sufficient and will only ask
questions if cannot find the
answers themselves, which
makes intrusive counseling a
requirement. Intrusive
counseling on life choices is
actually the military style of
training, so student veterans
may respond better to it.
 There are several successful
veterans who are willing and
able to design programs to fill
transition needs that were not
met when they when through
college.

3. ON THE EDUCATION FRONT | Issue 1 3
Transition Model
Dr. Nancy Schlossberg is an
expert in the field of transition
counseling for adults. Her
transition model is the current
best practice for assessing stress
factors during periods of change
and consists of four parts (2011):
 Situation
 Self
 Supports
 Strategies
By addressing each of these
factors, a less stressful and more
successful transition is possible,
which in this case means student
veterans are able to find their
place in college and become
successful students (Schlossberg,
Waters, & Goodman,1995).
SITUATION
An increase in variables directly
correlates to an increase in stress.
Transitioning from home to
college is high stress for regular
students. Student veterans
compound that stress with a
recent change of career, friends,
and location plus the common
remnants of post-traumatic stress
disorder from combat experience.
So student veterans’ stress is
considerably higher than regular
students.
SELF
Luckily, student veterans have
been trained in high stress
situations, maintain high levels of
physical fitness, and subsequently
have high resiliency to stress.
However, as they transition into a
new identity as a college student,
which is significant considering
that college education is one of
the distinguishing factors between
enlisted personnel and officers,
they are under considerable
eustress (positive stress) during
the change.
SUPPORTS
Having a support system to assist
during the transition and to
provide a feeling of security and
assurance is vital for success.
Soldiers who attempt to navigate
their new college life alone are
under considerable more stress
than those who have mentors,
friends, and systems to support
them.
STRATEGIES
Having a plan and direction to
start moving is essential to lower
stress during times of transition.
Even if the plan is not necessarily
complete, having a plan that one
can begin taking steps upon is a
vital coping mechanism that
relieves stress and gives the
person a sense of control over
their situation.
FURTHER READING
From Boots to Books:
Applying Schlossberg’s Model
to Transitioning American
Veterans
Ryan, Carlstrom, Hughey, &
Harris. (2011) NACADA
Journal, 31, pgs. 55-63
FAST FACTS
ON STUDENT VETERANS
86%
Received incoming fire
79%
Know someone seriously injured or killed
63%
Saw dead bodies or remains
60%
Were attacked or ambushed
50%
Were shot at
36%
Discharged their weapon
FURTHER READING
www.ptsd.va.gov

4. ON THE EDUCATION FRONT | Issue 1 4
Current Policy Trends
Veteran-friendly campuses are
defined by specific efforts to
(Ackerman & DiRamio, 2009;
Brown & Gross, 2011):
 Identify and remove barriers to
the educational goals of
veterans.
 Create smooth transitions
from military life to college life.
 Provide information about
available benefits and
services.
 Recruit veteran staff/faculty
members to work with student
veterans
Considering this definition, Cook
and Kim conducted a survey of
700 universities and colleges that
found (Ryan, et al., 2011):
4%
Provided a completely veteran-specific
orientation
22%
Added veteran-specific parts to their
regular orientation
50%
Did not have staff members who were
trained to assist in veteran transitions
57%
Did not provide training to faculty/staff
about how to assist with veteran
transitions
37%
Had trained staff to assist veterans with
disabilities
In one example of a veteran-
friendly campus, Sacramento
State University has successfully
implemented a veteran-specific
orientation that gathers all of the
incoming student veterans
together to address their specific
needs, introduce them to one
another and to available support
systems, and to welcome them in
a military fashion with the
distribution of military challenge
coins from the university
president. Also, orientation is
required for all new Sacramento
State students, so they have full
participation in the student
veteran orientation (Ryan, 2015).
The University of
Houston provides
only a two hour
briefing on veteran
benefits,
organizations, and
policies, which
does not address
the key issues of
Schlossberg’s
Transition Model.
Currently, the University of
Houston provides only a two hour
briefing on veteran benefits,
organizations, and policies
(Bradberry, 2015; Collazo, 2015),
which does not address the key
issues of Schlossberg’s Transition
Model.
Throwing information at students
only provides more stress and is
unfortunately similar to the
transition style of the military
when soldiers are exiting (Todd,
2005).
Like Schlossberg noted (1995),
self-determined veterans may
take advantage of the
opportunities presented in the
briefing; however, those self-
initiated individuals are also likely
to succeed regardless of the
transition and are not the subject
of this briefing.
The target population that needs
assistance/supports (Schlossberg,
et al., 1995) during transition is
the group of veterans who have
been taking orders for the past
several years, and may or may
not have endured traumatic
experiences, who need guidance
to acclimate to the new scholastic
environment and culture.
Lastly and most simply put,
veterans are older than their
peers, typically. If not physically,
they are mentally and emotionally
because of the experiences they
have had in the military. So the
conversation in orientation
between an 18 year old, who just
left home, and a 22 year old, who
just returned from Iraq, is very
different. Veterans already feel
isolated. So placing them in with
the younger students will only
isolate them further.

5. ON THE EDUCATION FRONT | Issue 1 5
Recommendations
Dr. Williamson, president of the
American College Personnel
Association (ACPA) during World
War II, stated that a veteran-
specific orientation was one of the
keys to successfully transitioning
soldiers to the classroom (1944).
And the intense, veteran-specific
preparations made by institutions
to receive WWII veterans ensured
the successful transition of
millions from the battlefield to the
classroom (Howard, 1945).
Current studies, applying
Schlossberg’s transition model to
the current generation of
veterans, concur with Dr.
Williamson’s assessment, adding
that veterans need a veteran-
specific orientation with peer
mentors, advisor support, and
“attentive listening” (Ryan,
Carlstrom, Hughey, & Harris,
2011).
“Scholarship recipients, athletes,
and other special-interest groups
have a tailored orientation
program to welcome them to a
university, but veterans – many
who have fought for their own
country – aren’t given the same
courtesy.” stated Rodrigo Garcia,
Chairman of the Student Veterans
of America (2009).
So the New Student Orientation
(NSO) policy at the University of
Houston should be amended to
provide for a veteran-specific
cohort that directly addresses the
needs and culture of student
veterans in order to successfully
transition this at risk population
from the military life to the
scholastic life.
Given several components of the
regular new student orientation
are vital, which is why it is
required for all incoming students,
so the policy should reflect that
the veteran cohort is a specialized
part of the orientation team and
the veterans should go through
some of the common material that
integrates them into the UH
community. However, they will
separate from the larger body to
conduct veteran-specific tasks
and activities to attend to veteran-
specific needs.
Orientation Components
Potential orientation components
to be done in the veteran-specific
cohort should include:
 Partnering with a peer mentor
who has already successfully
transitions and can guide the
new student veteran along the
path.
 A group social activity and
service activity to break up the
chunks of information students
are receiving with period of fun
and impactful activity with their
peers. Veterans chose to
serve their country and often
enjoy continuing to serve their
community. Orientation is a
good time to show them their
similarities to one another,
forging bonds and a feeling of
belonging.
 Revisiting good scholastic
habits for veterans who have
been long outside the formal
classroom setting.
Considering that most
students have trouble
prioritizing and managing their
study time wisely, teaching
veterans who are already
looking for a reason why they
do not below is essential. This
could also include assessment
of knowledge levels in a safe
environment with their peers
so that they feel secure even if
they have to retake courses.
Altogether, the veteran-specific
orientation cohort should
accomplish the following program
outcomes according to the
Transition Model (Schlossberg,
2011):
 Clearly assess the veteran’s
situation in the military and at
the school, identifying
stressors and working through
solutions.
 Empower the self so that the
veteran can effectively
navigate the transition with a
feeling of self-efficacy and
determination.
 Create a system of supports
that the veteran can rely upon
and embrace as the school
takes on the new member.
Establishing strong mentor
relationships to help the
veteran deal with experiences,
from the military and at school.
 Outline a personal strategy for
the veteran including a degree
plan, co-curricular campus
engagement schedule, health
and welfare plan (room/board
plus medical needs), and
personal educational goals.
This clear plan of action sets
the veteran in motion and
provides structure for their
future, relieving stress and
promoting their successful
transition to college.

6. ON THE EDUCATION FRONT | Issue 1 6
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Creating a veteran-friendly campus:
strategies for transition and success.
John Wiley & Sons.
Bradberry, L. (2015). Veteran service
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Conducted on February 20, 2015 at
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