The transition to college can be a huge adjustment for anyone, but military veterans often have a unique set of hurdles.
Student veterans can be anxious about fitting in, says Nicholas Armstrong, senior director for research and evaluation at the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University in New York.
Someone who served is also likely older than his or her undergraduate peers, he says. Plus, a veteran’s journey before college is probably vastly different from that of an 18- or 19-year-old fresh out of high school.
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“They’ve probably been at least on a tour, maybe multiple tours. They’re probably in their mid-20s. Good chance they might be even married or even have kids,” says Armstrong. “They’re in a different place in life.”
For Mitchell Forbes, going to college after serving in the military for a few years was a culture shock, he said via email.
“At first, it was very isolating; I could not connect with any of my classmates. I was in a new place with peers that were in middle school when I left for basic training. On top of schoolwork, I had a new wife, rent, two car payments, and endless medical appointments,” wrote Mitchell, currently a 27-year-old graduate student at Syracuse.
Higher education experts say military professionals can have a smooth start to student life if they start working on the transition before school begins.
One part of the transition includes understanding how they’ll pay for school and planning accordingly, says Amber Mathwig, a student veterans assistance coordinator at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill‘s Carolina Veterans Resource Center, which opened in September.
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Future student veterans should make sure they are fully aware of how to receive benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, she says.
“If you’ve never used your GI bill before, you’re going to have a delay in receiving your first housing allowance,” says Mathwig when discussing the federal program that provides student veterans with tuition and a stipend for housing.
“You have to prove that you’re going to show up for school before they send you housing allowance,” she says. “That’s a shock to people.”
In the fall, most schools start during the last week of August, and students receive their housing allowance around Oct. 1, says Mathwig, who was in the U.S. Navy.
She encourages students to also consider financial assistance beyond the GI bill to help meet their needs. “Apply for financial aid,” says Mathwig. “Most student veterans do not do that enough.”
If establishing new study habits or brushing up on math and English skills is a concern, veterans who are returning to school can turn to precollege programs, such as the Warrior-Scholar Project or Veterans Upward Bound Program, says Armstrong, who graduated from the United States Military Academy in New York.
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For some student vets, like Forbes, finding peers with a similar background is one of the hardest aspects of college life. Many colleges and universities, however, offer resource centers or groups that can help former servicemen and servicewomen find a community.
At the University of California–Berkeley, student veterans can take part in tailgates and game nights through the Cal Veterans group, for example, says Luis Hernandez, the veterans academic achievement counselor at UC–Berkeley’s Cal Veterans Services Center, which offers advising and workshops, among other programs, for student veterans.
Just about all of the university’s student veterans come from California community colleges, says Esperanza Bernal, a senior assistant director and transfer reading manager with the university’s office of undergraduate admissions.
Hernandez encourages prospective student veterans to contact the veterans center at the school they’re considering before classes begin to establish a relationship with that community.
Veteran applicants should also speak with undergrads who were once in their shoes, says Mathwig from UNC–Chapel Hill.
“Reach out to other student veterans,” she says. And if applicants need help finding those student veterans or other resources, she recommends they reach out to university staff.
“A professional staff member is going to know a lot more about navigating the university system more than most students,” she says.
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Prepare for College as a Veteran originally appeared on usnews.com
