College hopefuls across the country are preparing applications, assessing their options, and pondering what their futures will hold, and maybe daydreaming of football color schemes for Saturday tailgating outfits and adventures yet to be had. Some of the college talk conversations are "framed around the 5 C's": campus (location), curriculum (academic program/major), career (career networking and employment outlook), cost (tuition/instate/out of state/scholarship/financial aid) and community (belonging). Independently, any of these factors can impact the college-bound student's decision-making process in favor of one institution over another.

However, college conversations too often are dominated by the big 3 C's: campus, curriculum, and cost. For military veterans and their families aiming to attend college, the cadence calls are different. Military-connected student populations possess unique lived and learned experiences, are often dissimilar in age or socio-economic class as their non-military counterparts, add value to college course participation, and are recruited heavily by colleges, but where is "college fit" in the conversation for military veterans and their families?

Having More Conversations About 'College Fit'

College fit speaks to all aspects of the 5 C's, promoting belonging, sense of community, and acceptance of background, identity, and ease of transition while fostering an environment geared towards student success. College fit chats are especially useful to our military-connected student populations, but until recently have been presented more like a whisper in higher education. The sense of community and belonging, both on campus and online, are essential in the decision-making process for the military and their families and can be indicators of their success at college.

While many aspects of the student population have faced a decline in enrollment, the military-connected student population remains consistent and dedicated to their pursuit of earning a college degree. The Postsecondary National Institute reports that the military veteran student population accounts for approximately 4.9% of students enrolled in higher education in any given year. The military veteran student population also possesses incentives to attain a degree post-enlistment. While the GI Bill® certainly provides incentives for military veterans to enroll in courses, it does not ensure student success nor degree completion, despite being used as a recruitment tool for military service enlistment. Perhaps now that a case has been made to support military veteran students' student success, we can begin candid conversations regarding college fit with campus colleagues.

Military veterans are twice as likely to attend a for-profit institution and slightly more likely to attend a 2-year institution than the national average which suggests this student population is motivated to succeed or at least believes success in college is possible. Military veterans are enrolled in a variety of institutions of higher learning both for profit and not, 4-year, and 2-year institutions yet they are not graduating at the same rate of enrollment.

Discussions around college fit can assist the military veteran's student success as they make decisions and earn admission to colleges across the country. By bantering outside the big C's of college: campus, curriculum, and cost to exchange ideas that promote community, college fit initiatives for the military veteran student population can be incorporated to aid in student success outcomes.

These college fit initiatives, to be effective in supporting military-connected student populations, rather than mere chitchats, need to find a voice among higher education leadership. Meaningful dialogues can occur with state legislators as they consider policy reform supporting federal and state grants in order to get results.

Many states lack an effective translation of military experience for college credits, both in quantity and quality. One major challenge to military veteran student success is the lack of acceptance of earned credits in a credit-to-credit transfer from one institution to another (example English 111 at the 2-year institution as English credit at the 4-year university). Also negatively impacting military veterans' student success is the lack of many colleges and universities accepting prior learning experience for college credit (for example, NCO training completion certificates or earning leadership or public speaking course credits. A bigger challenge is quantifying credit for career fields that are not easily as transferable into the civilian world: i.e. infantry). This continues to create barriers for this student population, in turn, reflecting prolonged completion of degrees, and disparities in student success outcomes which speaks to poor college fit measures.

What Does College Fit Look Like on Your Campus?

It's important to note that the military veteran student population had a strong sense of structure and community while in service to our country. Yet, military student focused resources and support for the military community and culture largely differs campus-to-campus. While many colleges and universities have created designated military centers on campus, funding and knowledge of this unique student population is often lacking across campus by institutional leadership, faculty, and staff.

Opportunities to foster community for military-connected student populations really requires a holistic approach to college fit, from both the student and higher ed perspectives. While implementation and application may be uniquely addressed from campus to campus, here are some suggestions for promoting college fit for military veteran student populations at your institution:

• Offering early admission and acceptance.
• Targeted and customized recruiting measures.
• Credit-for-credit transfer.
• Credit for military prior learning experience.
• Multi-state collaborative for military credit transfer.
• Hy-flex modalities for learning opportunities.
• Small cohort-based learning opportunities.
• Assignments rooted in self-authorship to highlight lived and learned experience.
• Military-connected centers on campus with online components.
• Campus Green Zone Training for faculty and staff.
• Additional state and federal funding for student success resources around college fit for military veteran student populations.
• We can't forget military appreciation football games, can we? Most of us already have matching swag for the occasion.

Interested in continuing the college fit conversations? Join Maggie May on March 28, 2024 during our Careers and Coffee session on College Fit! 

Article Topics

Military Educational Benefits Military Focused Events Military Friendly Institutions Serving Military in HigherEd Veterans Academic Success Women Veterans Workplace Inclusion

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