Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds the following: Over 1,000,000 veterans attended institutions of higher education in 2012. Veterans face unique hardships in transitioning from the battlefield to the classroom and eventually to the workforce. The National Endowment for the Humanities’ Warrior-Scholar Project found that veterans transitioning to college likely have not used academic skills since high school and have difficulty adjusting to a fundamentally different social and cultural environment, [leading] to veterans dropping out of college before earning their degree .
The National Education Association found that veteran students can feel lonely and vulnerable on campus and that connecting student veterans can effectively ease this isolation by bringing together new veteran students with those who have already successfully navigated the first few semesters of college. The unemployment rate for post—9/11 veterans far outpaces both the overall non-veteran unemployment rate and the unemployment rate for non-veterans entering the workforce for the first time.
According to Mission United—a United Way program that helps veterans re-acclimate to civilian life—it is often essential for veteran students to be mentored by another veteran who understands their mindset and experience . Veteran student centers are recognized as an institutional best practice by the Student Veterans of America. The American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,700 institutions of higher education across the country, has called having a dedicated space for veterans on campus a promising way for colleges and universities to better serve veterans on campus and a critical component of many colleges’ efforts to serve their veteran students.
Budget constraints often make it difficult or impossible for institutions of higher education to dedicate space to veteran offices, lounges, or student centers. The 110th Congress authorized the funding of veteran student centers through the Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success under part T of title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1161t ). According to the Department of Education, federally funded veteran student centers and staff have generated improved recruitment, retention, and graduation rates, have helped veteran students feel better connected across campus, and have directly contributed to student veterans’ successful academic outcomes.
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