Meeting the needs of community college student Veterans transitioning from military to civilian life

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the transition and support experiences of community college student veterans across the state of California. This study focused on documenting college student veterans’ physical and mental health conditions upon transitioning out of the military, as well as their awareness, utilization, and needs regarding transition support provided by the military and their community college. Results from a cross-sectional online survey of community college student veterans in 2020–2021 found that while the vast majority of students had utilized military-provided transition services, many of the transition support focused on military-specific services such as Veteran Affairs (VA) benefits, and not enough were focused on non-military needs like housing and financial assistance. Moreover, when reporting on the usage of college-provided support, a similar pattern was found whereby utilization was higher for military-specific support (e.g., information on military benefits) than non-military support (e.g., career counseling). This study’s findings highlight the opportunity for community colleges and their veteran-dedicated resources and centers to raise awareness about services provided by the VA and by the college to meet the unique needs of their student veteran populations.

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