Assessing Student Veterans’ Academic Outcomes and Well-Being: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Higher education provides a pathway for military veterans to transition to an engaged civilian life. Veterans can be model students because of their diverse experiences, resilience, and discipline. Yet some veterans are simultaneously “at-risk”; most are non-traditional students and more likely than the general population to face mental/physical health issues. We propose well-being might protect student veterans from academic difficulties, ensuring positive outcomes. But few studies have investigated the relationship between student veterans’ well-being and academic outcomes. To guide much-needed research, we mapped how well-being and academic outcomes have been assessed in the student veteran literature. We reviewed 96 studies that quantitatively measured student veterans’ well-being or academic outcomes (databases: PsycINFO, ERIC, Proquest Dissertation/Theses, PubMed). Well-being was conceptualized in several ways, demonstrating lack of uniformity. Academic outcomes predominantly focused on performance, though non-performance-based measures (e.g., adjustment) were common. We outline existing research limitations and provide future research measurement recommendations.