Educating Veterans in the 21st Century (Paperback) | Released: 18 Sep 2009

The citizenry of America supports our veterans. On return from the service, many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are attending college. Some of these veterans encounter difficulties that interfere with their efforts to obtain a degree. Recent examination of this situation indicates that higher education is largely unaware of these problems. This book reviews knowledge that can help college administrators and professors to update practices at their school to properly serve the needs of veterans concerning: financial aid, transfer credits, educational programs, classroom climate, and the health care of veterans. Most of the problems discussed here originate in higher education's lack of knowledge about the unique needs of veterans. America's educators want as many veterans as possible to attend and complete a college education. If American higher education adjusts its practices to be helpful to veterans, veterans will obtain the education that they pursue.
About the Author: The four authors of Educating Veterans in the 21st Century brought considerable academic experience to the writing of this book. Three authors have spent all or nearly all of their professional lives teaching at the college level. Two authors (Herrmann and Hopkins) are emeriti professors from Indiana State University. One author has also had a long career in college teaching at Milligan College and is not far from retirement (Allen). One author (Wilson) retired from the military after almost 21 years of service and recently obtained a BA and MA in Linguistics at Indiana State University. The four authors brought considerable military experience to the writing of this book. All four authors are veterans. The first author is a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War and a graduate of the US Naval Academy; the second author is a WWII veteran in the European Theater, serving in the 44th Infantry Division, Seventh Army; the third author is a Marine Corps veteran with 16 years of service overseas during the Korean era; and the fourth author is an Army Vietnam veteran. While in the military, Hopkins and Allen received a purple heart. All four authors have first hand experience with the higher educational problems of veterans discussed here. Each author was a veteran when he obtained a college degree after serving in the military. All of the authors obtained part of their education with the support of the GI Bill. Three of the authors gave advice for several years to veterans about how to cope with the problems they encountered in higher education. The authors have also discussed the college problems of veterans with professors and administrators at other colleges and universities.