COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: Veterans
A Closer Look at Enrollments of Veterans
Andy Guess, InsideHigherEd.com
December 13, 2007
As states and the federal government continue to debate financialsupport for military personnel who want to attend (or return to)
college, some states have taken their own initiative. Now, recently
released enrollment data for the University of Wisconsin System
could offer a preview of what states can expect in the coming years —
despite new research documenting the persistent educational gaps
between veterans and non-veterans.
The university system's latest data found that out of 173,313
undergraduate and graduate students enrolled this fall, 3,975 are
veterans, an increase from 3,138 in fall 2006 and 2,517 in fall
2005. Compared with a 2.1-percent increase in the total student
population over last year, the number of veterans jumped nearly 27
percent.
A spokesman for the system said the increase could be attributed to
the increasing numbers of soldiers returning home from tours of duty
in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a reimbursement program for
veterans in the state that expanded its coverage to 100 percent of
tuition this semester. Although veterans continue to receive their
educational benefits, however, a budget standoff threatens the long-
term financial viability of the program.
When the state passed the "Wisconsin G.I. Bill" in 2005, it covered
half of veterans' tuition fees at the university system and at
public technical colleges, for any undergraduate, graduate or
professional course of study. It requires that veterans were state
residents at the time they enlisted, among other criteria, and also
covers children and spouses. But no money was appropriated to fund
the bill until this year, according to David F. Giroux, executive
director of communications and external relations for the university
system.
UW expects the growth in veteran enrollments to continue, at a
projected $41.8 million price tag for covering tuition remissions
over the next two years. The legislature, so far, will cover $9.5
million of those costs for the system, with the university picking
up an additional $14.2 million. The gap remains over $18 million
through the 2009 fiscal year.
According to the data, 3,177 veterans and their dependents are
receiving benefits through the Wisconsin law this fall, from 2,441
the previous semester.
These recent figures don't necessarily square — or compare — with
those in a journal article from the latest issue of Sociology of
Education by Jay Teachman, a professor of sociology at Western
Washington University. The article, using data from men who served
primarily in the 1980s, found a varying impact of military service
on subsequent educational attainment depending on several factors. A
key finding, however, compared the effectiveness of the original
G.I. Bill in encouraging World War II veterans to pursue a college
education, compared with veterans of Vietnam and those in the modern
all-volunteer force.
Teachman's article suggests that the current voluntary-participa tion
model of the G.I. Bill, in which enlisted soldiers contribute from
their salaries, tilts the benefits toward "[o]nly the most
consistently motivated individuals. "
"Service in the military retards education, leading to a veteran
deficit in schooling at the time of discharge," the article
states. "Even though some veterans are able to reduce this deficit
over time, only veterans with higher [Armed Forces Qualification
Test] scores are able to eliminate it."
Although the article does not examine the effects on recent
veterans, Teachman said his research wouldn't necessarily predict a
sudden increase in veteran enrollments. "It would surprise me," he
said. "I don't see what would generate that offhand, but again I
don't know if there are special programs or preferences" to
encourage higher levels of enrollment.
Wisconsin's educational benefits for veterans would certainly belong
to that category, although a strict causality can't be ascertained.
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