An Earned Accommodation: Framing a Veterans Syllabus Statement for Resistant Faculty

Abstract: As student veterans and their dependents navigate the unfamiliar cultural terrain of colleges and
universities, they rely on a chain of support, from the VA certifying official to the student services
office to the faculty members providing instruction. Since the Post 9/11 GI Bill took effect in 2009,
over a million student veterans and their dependents have enrolled in a college or university (Hart &
Thompson, 2013, p. 346), and according to a report by the Student Veterans of America, these
students have been more successful than their peers (Bogue, 2017, para. 4). Each student veteran
persisted and completed their degree at a much higher rate (72%) than other adult learners (50%)
and, on average, earned a higher GPA (3.35) than the national average (3.11) while pursuing
“academically rigorous” fields like business, marketing, STEM, and health sciences (Bogue, 2017,
paras. 4–6). This report suggests, contrary to stereotypes about veterans struggling on campus, they
are actually thriving.