Student Veterans' Outcomes by Higher Education Sector: Evidence From Three Cohorts of Baccalaureate and Beyond

• In Event: Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: College-Going, Success, and Persistence Among Veterans and Military Families

Abstract

This study tracks the debt and labor market outcomes of military veterans who earn college degrees as compared to similar non-veterans. Examining three nationally representative cohorts of college graduates, we find that one year after bachelor’s degree completion, veterans are about 6 percentage points more likely than non-veterans to be employed full time, though this benefit appears to diminish over time. Surprisingly, we find that graduates of for-profit colleges—both veterans and non-veterans—perform as well as or better than those from non-profit and public colleges in terms of employment and earnings, adjusting for an array of background characteristics. Results suggest that the nation’s investment in the Post-9/11 GI Bill may streamline veterans’ workforce integration via bachelor’s degree completion.

Authors

• Jennifer L. Steele, American University

• Peter Buryk, RAND Corporation

• Geoffrey McGovern, RAND Corporation