Abstract
The survey used in this study was designed to better understand challenges student veterans face when transferring from community college to CSUS. Researchers focus specifically on three factors: administrative processes, behavioral health access, and student veteran organizations. Participants were student veterans enrolled at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), and were primarily undergraduates aged 25-34 who had transferred from community college to CSUS. Among participants, 63% were male and 59% had deployed to a combat zone. Study results from 70 veteran student surveys identified key challenges affecting student veterans in the following areas: transferring credits, faculty and peer interaction, orientation, accessing financial aid and G.I. Bill benefits, and class registration. Researchers found the most useful services identified by participants at both community college and CSUS were priority registration, full-time veteran representative on campus, and access to counseling services. Findings indicated a positive correlation between student veterans’ satisfaction levels during community college and ratings of helpfulness of community college veteran representatives, suggesting that these representatives play an important role in the academic experience of the veteran. Researchers found that participants valued many skills developed during military service, such as flexibility, reacting productively under stress, and working well with others. Further, results indicated that student veteran dropouts could be largely attributed to mental health challenges such as poor coping skills, mental health reasons, alcohol and drug use, and cultural adaptation problems. Researchers make recommendations that challenge community colleges and universities to be “veteran-friendly” campuses.