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On Campus Blog
Alex Friedrich

Why veterans feel little support in college

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NPR's news blog, The Two-Way, has this bit on the report on the "culture shock" that returning vets feel in the college world, and the lack of support they feel they're getting from colleges and universities:

Compared to regular students, most veterans seldom interact with instructors. They're less likely to sign up for internships or study-abroad programs. And one in five has a disability. Veterans say schools don't offer them support services that might help them better connect with campus life, socially or academically.

It has several good links, and for those interested in the subject, I posted a Washington Post piece on the subject in my link roundup this morning.

That one links to another Post story with some startling bits on the daily bureaucratic frustrations that veterans face:

... All deal with the frustrations of navigating bureaucracies in their schools and the Department of Veterans Affairs, both of which have rules and procedures that can be overwhelming. Tuition is due the first of the month, but the GI Bill payment arrives much later. Academic credits earned in military training won't transfer. Call the federal government, and it's impossible to get a human being on the line; call the university, and no one is quite sure who can help.

"The military is so structured and organized, and when you get on a college campus, it's chaos," said Michael Johnson, a Marine who served in Iraq in 2005. "What we don't want to see is that guy get so frustrated with the system that he quits -- or doesn't even start."

One of the problems mentioned above, the inability to transfer academic credit, is something the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system appears to be attacking, as I've written about here.