One of the best benefits that military veterans receive is the opportunity to receive a college education after the military.

 

The transition from the military life to the college environment can be hard for many military veterans. Recently a new program has been created to help make the transition to campus life, at Cleveland State University in Ohio.

 

The program is only available to veterans and it helps teach them how to make the transition into the college environment with out becoming overwhelmed.

 

The program was created in 2006 after John Schupp, a Chemistry professor, received a phone call from one of his students who was having trouble making the transition into civilian life on campus. 

 

When he listened to her talk about her experiences in Kosovo, he thought about her having to listen to a teacher and freshmen students discuss their issues and trying to make that kind of adjustment.

 

The professor realized that this transition problem was something that was going to reoccur time and time again, so he decides to teach veterans how to make the transition on college life.

 

Schupp began doing research about veteran’s educational benefits, such as the Montgomery GI bill, and speaking with the local and state Veterans Affairs offices. What he found out stunned him. He learned that while these benefits were very appealing to recruits, fewer than 10 percent of veterans ever take advantage of the benefits. Amazing huh?

 

Part of his research incorporated speaking with Vietnam and Gulf War veterans and asking them the reason that they did not use their GI bill. A majority of them confided that they had a difficult time concentrating in class.

 

Professor Schupp spoke with university officials and convinced them to allow him to conduct a test class. Last spring, a pilot group of 14 chemistry students took the first exam.

 

The results were amazing. The learning environment Schupp provided was more at ease, with the classes consisting of veteran students only. They were much smaller. Also, because the students are all veterans, everyone in the class understood each other and the issues that come with being a veteran.

 

Most veterans had a higher average than my civilian classes. John Schupp concluded that the reason behind the success was that the classes were composed of all veterans. This allowed them to feel more comfortable opening up and talking about their military experiences.

 

According to Schupp, in the first semester, students are offered 12 credit hours of veteran’s only classes, then 9 credit hours the next semester. Full time students would still have to take three credit hours in a civilian class. That way, instead of being thrown head first into the civilian environment, the students are eased into the campus life, setting them up for success instead of failure. Since the program began, Universities, other colleges and Veterans Affairs systems has indicated interest in the program. So far 23 universities and colleges are considering offering similar programs.

 

The program at Cleveland State University is a success. Out of the 14 original students, 10 went on to summer semester. The following fall, 25 veterans enrolled and in the current spring semester, there are 41 veterans enrolled in the program.

 

I think this is an extraordinary way to help veterans make the difficult transition into civilian college. With any luck, we will see more colleges start to use this program for our veterans in their colleges.