Transitioning America's veterans into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academic programs

Abstract

The Post-9/11 GI-Bill1 presents opportunities to bring motivated, mature, dedicated, and disciplined students into academia, especially into STEM fields closely related to their military job experience. However, many of these students may have been away from the classroom for several years and may not be as prepared to enter college as they might have been prior to entering the military. These veterans have a high potential for success as students in STEM fields of study but may need some special assistance and mentoring in refreshing their academic skills. Through two CCLI grants from the National Science Foundation, the authors are executing a planning grant designed to assist and facilitate the transition of these veterans into STEM curricula at two- and four-year institutions. Demographic data is being collected to better understand exactly where these students would be transitioning out of military service and where they are likely to enroll in higher education. A consortium of geographically distributed industrial and academic partners was developed to forge the necessary articulation agreements with participating partners, conduct a needs assessment, develop head start curricula, and implement pilot projects from which we can gain lessons learned in this overall effort. This paper describes the authors' efforts to date in implementing these projects. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education.