Transitions: Combat Veterans as College Students

Abstract

The experience of war makes those who fight a special group within the general population. The purpose of this study was to investigate how combat veterans who become college students make the transition to campus life, in order to identify how administrators can acknowledge and support them. A total of six women and 19 men were interviewed; 24 were enrolled full-time at one of three public research universities and one at a four-year regional university (DiRamio, Ackerman, and Mitchell, 2008). Of those interviewed, only two had experienced more than a single deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Nine participants had attended college prior to serving on active duty. Students still on active duty were not included in the study, although National Guard and reserve force members were. The authors conducted the interviews, and the decision to end the study at 25 cases was guided by researcher agreement that clear themes had emerged (Creswell, 1997). Interviews with participants revealed similar experiences, and themes emerged relating to joining the military, deployment, serving in a war zone, and moving from combat into the classroom. The findings suggest that combat veterans are a student population with special needs and require support from both policymakers and program providers.