Abstract
Student veterans on college and university campuses are a unique, under-researched population. The current study (n = 119) investigated the criteria used when student veterans select a private, nonprofit college or university. A one-factor model of support for disability needs constructed from prior research was tested and found to have adequate fit. The factor support was used in structural equation modeling to test the relationship between demographic information, such as length of time in the military, and endorsement of disability services as a criterion for selecting the private, nonprofit college or university. Results indicate veterans who served more time in the military are more likely to select a school based on the presence of disability services.
Highlights
There are many reasons why individuals choose institutions of higher education. Chapman’s (1981) College Choice Model demonstrates that both individual factors, such as important people influencing one’s college decision, and external factors, such as college characteristics or recruitment efforts, contribute to a student’s choice of college
Overall, student veterans who served for a longer period in the U.S military are more likely to select private, nonprofit colleges and universities based on the presence of student disability services
Results from this study indicated that student veterans who spent more time in the military were more likely to choose a private, nonprofit university or college based on the presence of student disability services
Summary
There are many reasons why individuals choose institutions of higher education. Chapman’s (1981) College Choice Model demonstrates that both individual factors, such as important people influencing one’s college decision, and external factors, such as college characteristics or recruitment efforts, contribute to a student’s choice of college. There are many reasons why individuals choose institutions of higher education. Distinct differences guiding a student to choose public institutions include the lower tuition costs and higher acceptance rates as well as the appeal of having a larger variety of majors from which to select. For those who choose private schools, prominent factors for private school choice include smaller class sizes, university prestige, and opportunities for more specialized communities such as religious affiliations (Bierer, 2010). Studies of non-traditional students have found that age is a predictor of college choice between public and private schools (Kortesoja, 2009). To date, there have been limited studies of student veterans using quantitative data collection methods and analyses (Jenner, 2017)
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