Chris Shupert attends class full-time and works a full-time job. He looks like your typical college student except a little older. He’s not typical, though. Shupert is a 28-year-old combat veteran of the United States Army.
According to the Veterans Affairs website, over 660,000 undergraduate students are veterans and another 215,000 are service members or active duty reserves. 85 percent of those veterans are 24 or older, according to the Student Veterans of America.
Most veterans go back to school because they are eligible for the Government Issued Bill (GI Bill). The post 9/11 GI Bill is being used by most veterans today. It provides educational and housing support for anyone serving 90 collective days after Sept. 10, 2001. It provides up to 36 months of educational benefits. Over 300,000 are using the educational benefits of the post 9/11 GI Bill.
Shupert served eight years in the Army as a staff sergeant and deployed to Iraq three times and Afghanistan once. He is now a business major but is currently taking the semester off. Shupert is enjoying the benefits of the GI Bill because he doesn’t have to pay for any part of his schooling.
“I enjoy going to school and I’m going to get as much out of this as possible,” Shupert said. “I earned my schooling. That’s why I don’t have to pay.”
As of the 2011-2012 school year, the University of Kansas has 396 military related students and was rated ninth best school in the nation for veterans by The Military Times. KU also has a 61 percent veteran graduation rate. U.S. News and World Report rated KU as 15th best for veterans.
An organization called Student Veterans of America helps veterans get through college and also helps them after graduation. SVA unites student veterans groups across the globe on college campuses, helps reintegrate them into college life, and creates a peer network for veterans at that school.
KU has a group of military veterans called the KU Collegiate Veterans Association or CVA. This group is affiliated with the SVA and is intended to help ensure success for veterans and their families at KU and in Lawrence. They hold several events for veterans every year on campus.
The CVA also has a veterans lounge in room 306 at the Burge Union. It was opened on Veterans Day in 2009 and houses a table and chairs, a TV, workstations, and a couch. It is a place for veterans to hang out or study between classes and helps build a peer support group for veterans.
Shupert hasn’t been to the veterans lounge at KU and said he sometimes feels out of place being older than most students.
“I feel like I’m older and I am but it seems like a big difference,” Shupert said. “I’ve been through so much and seen a lot of things and these kids haven’t even got to experience life yet.”
Shupert has almost completed his business degree and still has three semesters left on his GI Bill. He plans to use every single one. Shupert thinks his next degree will be in education.
“I want to do business while I’m young and earn some money,” Shupert said. “But I want an education degree because I’ve always wanted to be a high school math teacher. I plan to do that when I’m older and I’m more patient,” he adds with a chuckle.
Click the picture for a graphic on student veterans in the US.
Kate Shelton 