Continuing the Mission: Intelligence to Support the Next Wave of Student Veterans on Campus

Background and Purpose. Military personnel who deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have transitioned out of the military back to communities searching for their next mission. During this transition, approximately one-third are pursuing degrees in higher education using their educational benefits to pursue degrees and new career paths. However, after almost two decades, little is known about the campus level needs of student Veterans. Studies are often less rigorous and limited by sample size, as the majority are qualitative and not considered as rigorous and comprehensive to inform policy and programming at the University level. Our study fills this gap by examining data for a holistic understanding of student Veterans enrolled in a large Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) university in the southwest. Development of the needs assessment survey, outreach to recruit student Veterans, highlights from survey findings, and implications for program development on campus are discussed.

Methods. An IRB approved anonymous survey using Qualtrics was conducted. All student Veterans registered on campus for Veteran benefits during spring 2022 semester were recruited using emails, posting on a student Veteran Canvas website, outreach at tabling events, and social media. The domains in the survey included demographics, transitional process, service utilization, finance, health and mental health needs, and career factors. The survey consisted of 87 questions taking 30-45 minutes to complete.

Results. A total sampling population of 788 student Veterans met the inclusion criteria of receiving Veteran educational benefits of which 28% (n=219) participated, producing a respectable sample size and response rate for an online survey. Highlights include, of the participants who did use at least one of the on-campus resources, the vast majority (92%) felt that it fully met their expectations. However, the majority who requested other services identified the need for financial services and culturally competent mental health services. Participants were asked to select off-campus resources they utilized and 88.5% responded they would consider using similar resources if they were based on the university campus. While most participants (85%) were not involved in military-connected organizations on campus, a small number (15%) of participants were, and most reported being active in the official student Veteran group. Similarly, most participants (90%) were not involved in off-campus military-related organizations. More than half the participants (57.7%) reported currently having mental health needs and 53.3% said that their mental health affects their learning. Also, 9.8% of participants reported that their injuries still affect their ability to learn after leaving the service; these injuries include PTSD, memory loss, hearing loss, anxiety, moral injury, and constant pain and fatigue. Lastly, about 60% of participants voiced overall concerns about the negative impacts of COVID, including 35% that said it impacted their careers and about one-third said it impacted their relationships.

Conclusions. Suggested program changes will be discussed including the need to address social isolation among student Veterans to provide more connections to other Veterans, actions to provide financial literacy and providing more culturally informed mental health and health services.