Is our military being overlooked by the higher education establishment?
Here is another excellent article from Inside Higher Education. Author Cliff Adelman notes that some 700,000 to 840,000 military members and their families are enrolled in American higher education. This number accounts for roughly 5% of all American enrollments and these students are part of the other 85%. Adelman correctly points out that these enrollments are often overlooked because they are “relegated to consideration under ‘adult and continuing education’ and have not received much (if any) attention from the higher education research and policy community.”
I agree that this is true for military education, but is sadly also true in general for adults in higher education. Adelman decries the fact that none of the military students “who earned degrees are credited with completion under the silly graduation rate formula of the Student Right-to-Know Act because active military are part-time students (who are excluded from our Congressional graduation rate formula) He clearly understands the argument put forward in this blog that, like other adult learners, military students are not seriously considered in higher education research and policy-making. As the name of the blog conveys, this is even though about 85% of American higher education students don’t fit the popular and dominant view of the characteristics that define college students. Apparently Adelman fails to see the silliness of using “location” as a disqualifier for counting students. He notes that much military education takes place at locations outside the U.S. In an age where so much education takes place at a distance, location is no more valid a qualifier than part-time versus full-time status.
But Adelman’s article is an excellent one and makes very important points in support of military students who are a very important part of the other 85%. I am very pleased to see that military students are beginning to get the attention they deserve.
What are your thoughts on what Dr. Adelman proposes? What else might be necessary to bring appropriate attention and understanding to the education of active military members and their families?
Mike
Share This6 Responses to “Is our military being overlooked by the higher education establishment?”
Raymond McCormick Says:
I would like to suggest that not only the military but all students from all walks of life! I have seen interviews on television programs where people in diverse communities complain they do not have the option of going to college.
It is my belief that EVERYONE has the opportunity. It is called Student Loans!
Cliff Brown Says:
Having retired from the military, I know many military personnel who complete their degrees for several reasons related to self-advancement or career advancement requirements. Military spouses complete degrees because it provides them an opportunity to connect with other people and to pass time while waiting for their spouses to return from deployment. Whether deployed or not, somehow military personnel will find time to further their education.
Paul Rutter Says:
I earned an associate degree via distance methods years ago while on deployment on a submarine under neath the Pacific Ocean. Studying while on deployment gives one’s mind something to concentrate on instead of counting weeks until one sees one’s family again. It is also great for advancement and for me getting a leg up on finishing the BS degree once my enlistment was up.
The thing is I was about age 19-21 when I was taking the classes, hardly an adult at 25. I’m glad adult learning considers Veterans as adult learners, now if only the drinking laws back then had. Old enough to die for the country, to vote for leadership, be an adult student but not drink a mere beer. (Another blog I suppose).
Paul
EricBirdine Says:
In light of the current administrations’faux pas with the Iraq situation. I would like to think that these men and women will not have a problem trying to pursue higher education with all the mental and physical disorders that it has brought. I would hope higher education is looking to ease some of the “stigma” attached to war and the veterans who return not quite in the same condition that they left here in when deployed.
BishopL Says:
I don’t believe the military is being overlooked by higher education. There are ample financial opportunities for our brave men and women who choose to risk their lives in the armed forces. For example, the Post 9/11 GI bill and AU-ABC program (Air Force) can help cover most or all of the costs of higher education, as well as provide methods to help transfer credits.
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Fredonia Bean Says:
I think that this population should be counted. However, I understand why they may not be counted. When I think about military I think about war. How do people fighting a war have time or attention to complete college courses? Maybe, this is the kind of thinking we have to change in order to change how they are counted.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:56 pm