The Road Ahead: Striking The Right Combination Of Academic And Mental Health Services And VA Benefits For Increasing The Academic Attainment Of Student Veterans

Abstract

Recent statistics suggest that nearly a quarter of all veterans who have recently returned from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are returning to postsecondary education, many of them motivated to do so by the increased benefits included under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. This bill is intended to increase the educational attainment of these student veterans. To fully realize the potential of this bill to increase academic attainment in this population, however, it must be combined with an effective delivery of services intended to help student veteran's transition to the academic environment as a bridge to productive civilian employment. Postsecondary institutions, educators, mental health practitioners, and federal employees within the government, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and others seeking to aid student veterans increase their academic attainment must become familiar with barriers commonly experienced by this unique population and effective methods to remove these barriers. This thesis SSD study builds on current research in an attempt to more fully understand these barriers from the perspective of one student veteran with both a learning disability and combat-related PTSD by describing efforts to access accommodations for these conditions and their effectiveness at helping help him persist in education with a higher GPA while he simultaneously participates in a supported education intervention.