MILITARY VETERANS’ PERCEPTIONS OF CAMPUS SUPPORT SERVICES, LEVELS OF ADJUSTMENT, AND PREPAREDNESS TO GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE

As military veterans return from active duty, they have been faced with many challenges in adjusting to civilian life. Because of the comprehensive Post-9/11 GI Bill, many veterans have chosen to utilize their education benefit and attend college. Navigating a college campus, using campus services, and adjusting to the college environment can be difficult. This study indicated how veterans perceived campus support services, taking into account how adjusted they feel, and how these factors might have impacted their preparedness to graduate from college. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of military veterans’ perceptions of campus support services on the dimensions o f academic advisement, counseling services, extracurricular activities, and career services; and social or personal, academic, and institutional adjustment from institutions of higher education in the U.S. Military veteran responses from different age and gender were compared and analyzed on the dimensions of use of campus support services and aspects o f self-adjustment and selfreported preparedness to graduate from college. A survey was developed based upon current literature to examine military veterans’ use of campus support services, including academic advisement, counseling services, extracurricular activities, and career services. Another survey was developed comprised of items from an existing survey focusing on self-reported adjustment on the dimensions of social/personal, academic, and institutional adjustment to college. The survey was administered to 900 colleges and universities in the U.S. who have an active Student Veterans Organization on campus.