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New Website Helps Colleges Assist Student Veterans
By Catherine Groux
Posted March 22, 2012 12:03 PM
A new website shows colleges how they can better assist student veterans.According to a recent article in CNNMoney, more than 2.2 million military personnel have completed service in Iraq or Afghanistan. An additional 90,000 troops are scheduled to return from their tours in Afghanistan by 2014.
As thousands of veterans return home, many will look for jobs. However, CNNMoney states that many of these individuals struggle to translate their military experience into job skills, making it difficult for them to find employment in an already challenging market.
Last year, about 12.5% of post-9/11 veterans were unemployed, which was well above the national average. Although various government initiatives were able to reduce this figure to 7.6% in February, many veterans still struggle to find work when they enter civilian life, according to Sean Parnell, author of the book "Outlaw Platoon."
"These guys have these bang-up resumes for the military and then they get out and civilians don't know what to do with them," Parnell told CNNMoney.
As a means to update their skills during the job hunt, many veterans decide to pursue a bachelor's or associate's degree, taking advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. However, after years in the military, many veterans find just the thought of applying to schools to be stressful and complicated, and some colleges simply do not understand how to appropriately assist them. For this reason, the American Council on Education recently unveiled the Toolkit for Veteran Friendly Institutions, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
Using this new interactive, online tool, schools across the country can learn how they can become more military friendly. The Toolkit outlines the best practices colleges can use to assist student veterans, including counseling services, faculty training and on-campus centers, and features a searchable database of resources.
Additionally, the website gives schools advice on how they should identify veterans during the application process and check in with these students as they work toward their degrees.
"The definition of 'veteran friendly' is as diverse as today's higher education community," said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad in a statement. "Factors such as campus culture, academic environment, student body size and composition, location and more all play a role in determining what programs and services work for an individual institution and its students. ACE is proud to offer this toolkit, which we hope will assist institutions in making those choices.
