While the University’s support for military students has improved in recent years, there are still great strides to be made for veterans and their dependents enrolled at UNC.
There are 343 students currently receiving GI benefits at the University (about 1 percent of the student population), which is a very low percentage compared to other system schools. The national average is 3.1 percent.
The University often neglects the small military student population and becomes preoccupied with solely addressing the needs of the traditional student. But by increasing resources and support for veterans and active duty military students, UNC can become more attractive to this demographic.
Most veterans choose other schools over UNC because they want to enter the workforce as soon as possible, so they seek out an institution with course scheduling options that allow for rapid degree completion.
Some veterans currently enrolled at UNC decided that a degree from an elite public university was the most important thing for them, but now regret the decision as they feel the University fails to meet the needs of anyone but the traditional 18 to 22 year old student.
UNC only recently began offering course credit for professional military education and set a limit at 12 credit hours. Other system schools award credit on a case-by-case basis and could grant up to 40 hours for the training some UNC military students went through.
That being said, throughout the past few years military students have seen the creation of more support groups and easier access to resources.
This has proved helpful for some veterans.
The Carolina Veterans Organization, which was created last year, allows military students to communicate with each other for homework help and helps them find the social aspect of college life that other students establish so easily.
