President Philomena V. Mantella called on colleges and universities to provide better support for veterans who enroll in classes and degree programs after leaving the military, saying higher education must recognize the value and skills this student population adds to a campus.
Mantella wrote an op-ed, "Education must do more for our veterans," published October 12 in the Evolllution, a publication for higher education.
In the article, Mantella wrote about the low percentage of veterans who use the Post-9/11 GI Bill. "And when service women and men join us at our universities, a 2015 study from Syracuse University showed more than half (53%) believe colleges and universities don’t acknowledge their military-earned skills and strengths," she wrote.
The article referenced Grand Valley's Veteran Promise, guaranteed enrollment to Grand Valley for Michigan high school seniors who commit to enlisting for two years. Grand Valley was the first university in the country to reward military service this way.
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