Colleges struggle with turning veterans into graduates

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/03/colleges-struggle-turning-veterans-graduates



Ray Garcia, a retired marine and full-time student at Tidewater Community College, shown on Thursday, March 6, 2014, works at the Center for Military and Veterans Education on TCC's Virginia Beach campus helping student veterans.

Colleges struggle with turning veterans into graduates
By Dianna Cahn
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 23, 2014

Two combat tours in Iraq and 20 years in the Marines made Ray Garcia a different kind of college student.

He was 39 years old when he set foot in college for the first time. He didn't want to party; he got angry when students were disrespectful in class or when instructors didn't respect veterans.

And then there was the issue of which seat he might get: He preferred one by the door, though any desk that allowed him to defend against attack would do. Even now, after the extreme sense of heightened alert has faded, that need remains.

Five years after the Post-9/11 GI Bill began, giving recent veterans and service members greater benefits for higher education, more than a million have tapped into the program. There is no precise data about how well veterans fare. But studies suggest that large numbers are not making it to graduation.

[pipoman]

1. A great program

My son is benefiting from right now. ..

[Dawson Leery]

2. kick