Establishing the Academic Performance of Veterans in the Us Colleges Essay

The word veteran comes from Latin word, vetus which means old. Its used to mean a person who has experience or has served for a long time in the armed forces. Though sometime it may be used to even include those still work in the armed forces (Howe 23). In some countries holidays dubbed Veterans Day halt been celebrated to honor the veterans. After human race War 2 veteran groups like the veterans of foreign wars and even the American legion pushed for the enactment of the GI bill which has ensured that veterans access free or subsidized education and health care (Howe 23). Objectives To de enclosureine the level of academic transaction of veterans in the US colleges. To understand the reasons why veterans decide to go fend for to college. To traverse the effect of being a veteran on academic performance. To classify the academic performance of the veterans i. e excellent, moderate e. t. c. Justification Frances claims that the Vietnam veterans, who were on duty between 195 6 and 1975, were psychologically deva rural aread and bitter (45) and addicted to drugs (46). They include the plenty who had an uphill task readjusting to the normal society life, in the US history context (47).Several movies e. g. Hi mom (1970), 1971s hard ride and Marvel Comics movie The Punisher among others have eternally shown that the experience at the Vietnam war for example was so devastating (Jay 23). This warrants a study that probes to know if the governances efforts to take the veterans pricker to college is the virtually appropriate measure. The results go away boost the morale of the veterans. The researcher surmise will be a Null hypothesis-There is no relationship between high academic performance and being a veteran.It will be assumed that the respondents exam result will be a true reflection of their academic capability and that past exam marks achieved were not characterized by e precise irregularities. Literature review A number of recent studies keep p ointing at the fact that those combat veterans who have PTSD have exhibited memory lapse. According to Nash (112) and Andrew (99), other psychological dimensions including intellectual capacity, veterans with PTSD have been ok just like other non-veterans.According to the newly sign(a) GI bill by the the States president George W. Bush on 30th June 2008, all American young veterans are assured of a chance to obtain a college degree or university degree free of charge (Montreal Gazette). An example of the honorable attention being given to this sector is Horatio Alger associations commitment in 2005 to distribute 10 million dollars to those veterans who fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This bill was signed in recognition of the Jewish War Veterans.It was to a fault signed in order to review the educational benefits attached to the military, navy or the air force from which a majority of the veterans emanate and which have been outpaced by the standards of living. The bill has b een timely because it eliminates the stringent procedures and replaces them with a minimum of deuce-ace years of active service to the nation in the military, navy, air force or any other troops like reservists or guardsmen. The veteran benefits are to those who have participated actively in long term allege duties and have received an honorary discharge from duty e.g. the American Soldiers who went to fight the war in Iraq and made it back home (National Guard). The financial Aid office and the department of veteran affairs in the US which is based at Ivy Tech in Southern Indiana have been very instrumental in promoting education for the veterans. According to a recent survey by Minnesota state colleges and universities (2007), 80% of National Guard soldiers from Minnesota completing their overseas deployment, said they were keen on etymon or returning to complete their higher education (Karmaz 345).These veterans returning from military duty abroad front numerous challenges i. e. personal, relationship, employment matters and education as they struggle to return their lives to normal civilians (Nash 116). As the president of Las Positas College DeRionne snip puts it in her welcome note, the veterans have made an astonishing difference in the lives of their countrymen and women. The peace and freedom that is enjoyed by the US for example as she puts it, is as a result of the tiresome work and a industrial-strength sense of duty exhibited by the veterans in their various state assigned duties (Andrews 34).This study will thusly be seeking to establish the general academic performance of veterans and the factors responsible for the standards In veterans elementary ordinary school in Chula Vista that caters for much or less 542 students from grade k-6 in 2007 had an adequate yearly progress of 845 surpass the 800 mark set by the state of California. Sounds impressive but, how about other schools/colleges? (Neubauer & Diane 376) Methodology This study w ill utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods.In quantitative method, the academic records of the veteran students will be analyzed their performance will and then be compared to the other non-veteran students in the same setting. A leaven will excessively be set and administered to all respondents. The research will utilize several resources including stationery, analyzing computers where entropy is entered and comparison charts and graphs produced. Qualitative method will also be used be used to sire the opinions of the respondents. Unstructured questionnaires will be used to generate this information.All qualitative information of similar personality will be grouped together i. e. information coding. The coded information will then be nonionized in the form of matrix and then conclusions drawn from the data, E. g. Oral examinations on general topics can also be posed, the respondents answers will then be checked for content and their levels of understanding underst ood. entropy analysis The quantitative data on the performance of the subjects will be compared with that of a control credit population of students with the same characteristic but who are not veterans.The qualitative information will also be translated into percentages of the subject who prefer to go back to college for several reasons. The qualitative information will then be used to explain the performance of the veterans quantitatively. For example, if a majority of veterans go back to college because they want to collect knowledge or because they want to develop new careers and assist their families, then we would rightly conclude that the high performance by the same people is purely because of self motivation and not because of the harsh conditions they go about in service for the nation.Results According to (Willenz 56), a case study done on 204 veterans in Michigan, it was anchor that 60% of the respondents performed well in college at the beginning but later their pe rformance depreciated and they eventually underperformed, with approximately 20% of them dropping out. Of those who dropped out, 90% of them were not going for counseling sessions. The results clearly show that though many another(prenominal) veterans want to go back to college, their past experiences plays a major role in what becomes of that decision.However in that respect is a serious need for the veterans to be attached to counselors or psychologists whose therapies should make them fit to go back to college and stay on course to achieve desirable results. Veterans most of the time have suffered severe consequences of war and therefore as a show of appreciation for the sacrifices they made the government through a specifically set financial scheme offers to take them back to school or if they accidentally passed on in line of duty, their family members are given the benefits.These benefits have been characterized with a lot of procedural technicalities that have denied genui ne candidates their dues. The most common scenario is that of veterans living in conditions of poverty and engaged in a lot of legal battles with the state in an attempt to prove that they are worth compensating. For the veterans to become normal civilians after participating in military wars there is need for a carefully structured educative system that re- integrates them into the society through counseling and other methods.Recommendations The veterans occupy an integral part of any society. Their contribution in safeguarding the interests of their nation calls for more than is currently being offered even by the US. Young veterans only should have the option of going back to college as compulsory especially if they had not gone to college. But aged ones should be given an fortune to access the compensation in terms of finances and be able to do what they like with it.The pay for duties discharged should not only be education grants but should also include job placements. Becau se of their altruistic actions it would be prudent for the concerned governments to increase the compensations given to those who have been disabled in the line of duty. The distance of service should be a determining factor for compensation.