A Quantitative Analysis of the Relationship among Sources of Aid and Predictors of Student Veteran Graduation and Persistence

Abstract

This study uses multinomial logistic regression models to identify significant predictors of graduation and persistence for veteran and military-affiliated students (n=1,141) at one veteran-friendly, not-forprofit institution. Several statistically significant predictors of graduation and persistence for veteran and military-affiliated students are unique when compared to the literature on the general student population, such as the positive effect of part-time enrollment and the negative effect of continuous enrollment. In addition, comparisons are made among subgroups of the students based on the source of their financial aid (e.g., government, institutional, no veteran or military aid). Distinct policies designed to assist veteran and military-affiliated students are suggested as well as individual policies to support subgroups of these students. Unique institutional policies that may have a positive impact on the subgroups of students include encouragement for part time enrollment for veteran and military-affiliated students who are not using government funded veteran and military aid and assistance with stop outs (temporary withdrawals from higher education) and returns for those using government funded veteran and military aid. Federal policy implications, such as the impact of the 36-month limit on Post 9/11 GI Bill funding, are discussed.

The Role of Disability Services in Student Veterans’ Private School Choice

“…Given that student veterans represent a unique population on college and university campuses (Barry et al, 2014), and that there is considerable financial investment provided by the federal government through the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Garrity, 2017) and the Yellow Ribbon Program, empirical data is needed to inform decisions made at these institutions of higher education.…”

The State of Research in Veterans Studies: A Systematic Literature Review

“…By utilizing NVivo's word frequency query search, three topics emanate from the theme of student veterans as observed in JVS articles. They are student veteran transition experiences from military to civilian and becoming student veterans (Andrewartha & Harvey, 2019;Bodrog et al, 2018;Boettcher et al, 2017;Jenner, 2017;McMenamin, 2016;Mendez et al, 2018;Petri et al, 2016;Phillips, 2016;Pollak et al, 2019;Young, 2017), conditions surrounding student veteran academic success (Bagby et al, 2019;Blackwell-Starnes, 2018;Cipher et al, 2018;Flatt & Rhodes, 2019;Garrity, 2017;Hembrough, 2017;Hembrough et al, 2018;Spencer, 2016), and issues surrounding accommodations needed by student veterans (Flink, 2017;Kranke et al, 2017;Morris et al, 2019;Wild & Mahapatra, 2018).…”