Veteran College Bound Population

Today, I would like to point out something many educators probably over looked. It has been in the media, political speak and on the street. Just this year more money has been given to Veterans for educational purposes. The new GI Bill post 9/11. This bill is packed with cost of living, school tuition and fees up to the maximum for a private institution in pretty much any state. (California is having some issues) What this will mean is that an influx of the soldiers who served after 9/11 will have at least 10k a year to go back to school. What that has done in the last 30 days is that the VA has processed more than 25,000 applications for benefits in the last two weeks. This is huge what this says is that of course there will be more veterans going back to school and more students at schools, but what it doesn't talk about is a large influx of students coming to school who have very unique challenges to completing their education. Universities need to have a greater veteran college group presence on campus. Organizations which understand the diverse challenges that veterans students face will be instrumental in assisting with positive matriculation. Also, the need for counselors who are veterans is most definitely needed to help guide veterans through the quagmire of challenges that becoming a student, again, can cause. Don't throw into the mix any special needs like medical or physical disabilities which can really challenge a student. I know these things because I am a service connected disabled veteran and I understand there are some very unique challenges which most wouldn't begin to understand. Coordinating with the Veterans Administration for benefits or just going to the VA hospital or the CBOC (community bases outpatient clinic) can put a curl in your hair and require the use of most of a 8 hour day to get anything completed. Eligibility and actually receiving the benefits on time for payment of school fees will be an interesting achievement and coordinating programs eligibility will be another beast. Although it may not sound like it I am very hopeful and excited to see more student veterans on campus. I am very excited about this. This will help to build our defense ranks and our DoD civilian ranks with workers who are dedicated, fresh, and have initiative to get things done. With Troops to teachers in place it will also produce "can do soldiers" who will be "can do" teachers. This will require more master teachers to step up to the plate and help transition these "new educators" the ropes of education in k12 arena. This will also help to bring a fresh perspective to learning and more creative tools for the desperate times we are having in the education field. This will also produce more jobs for educators either part time or full time to train and educate these new learners and it will also require more administrative staff. This will bring more revenue to schools and help to create better communities. (when veterans go to brick and mortar schools)

All in all the next 5-10 years will be a tumultuous time but it will also be the best of times because we will have no shortage of talented people to strengthen our economy and no shortage of creativity to bring us back to the country we once were. I believe that this event, although it had very little coverage, will very quickly change some demographics in ways we never expected.