Results from the National Survey of Student Engagement found student veterans say they receive little support from college campuses upon returning to school after serving in the military.
The NSSE survey, which measures the frequency of student involvement on college campuses on a national scale, identified multiple areas in which veterans differ from the average student.
Among those differences, the survey found veteran students feel there is less support on college campuses, are less likely to interact with their professors and spend a significant amount of time working and caring for dependents outside of school.
Jillian Kinzie, associate director of the Center for Postsecondary Research, said this is the first time the survey has looked at student veterans specifically.
“We were prompted to do the comparison because of the attention and interest surrounding the GI Bill,” Kinzie said.”There has been a huge influx of veterans attending college post Sept. 11 and we wanted to know if these veteran students are having different experiences than the average student.”
Kinzie added the survey found quite a few significant differences between veterans and other students and illustrated some concerns about the quality of the college experience for veterans.
“We need to see more support for veterans in order to ensure their success,” Kinzie said.
Gerald Kapinos, a member of the Board of Directors for Student Veterans of America, a University of Wisconsin senior and veteran, said the survey’s finding accurately reflected what he has seen through his own experiences with other veterans throughout the country.
When veterans return from service and decide to attend college, all the support networks they initially left behind are gone and they arrive on campus without the foundation of support the average student has, Kapinos said.
Kapinos added student veterans are often older than the average college student and find it hard to relate to their younger, non-veteran peers.
“We arrive on campus sterile,” Kapinos said. “We try to adjust and reach out, but it is often difficult to relate to younger students.”
Kapinos said he believes UW is on the vanguard of helping student veterans out and defies the national sentiment.
The student organization Vets for Vets, which was established on the UW campus in 1972 to provide support for Vietnam Veterans, has weaved a social support network for student veterans on campus and has been a great resource to many students, Kapinos said.
Kapinos added UW officials Assistant Dean of Students John Bechtol, Veteran Affairs, and VA Certifying Official Linda Struck have also contributed to making the campus a welcoming environment for veterans.
UW senior and veteran Courtney Pfad said she also believed UW is an exception to the national trend reported by the survey.
Pfad said she arrived on the UW campus at the age of 22 after serving overseas and was immediately struck by the tremendous amount of support she felt on campus.
She added that her experiences with Vets for Vets had a great impact on her college career and her professors and other faculty members have always been very helpful and understanding.
“This campus has always been very supportive of what it means to be a veteran,” Pfad said.
