Center for Veteran Transition and Integration

Columbia University launched the Center for Veteran Transition and Integration to have a direct and lasting impact on the issue of veteran transition and upward mobility by creating and providing access to the best-in-class tools and programming veterans need as they transition from active service to college and the workforce.

Over the last decade and a half, Columbia University developed the most sophisticated and successful program at an Ivy League or highly selective private college or university for service members transitioning from the military to undergraduate and graduate education, the workforce, and civilian life.

During this time, Columbia has successfully enrolled more student-veterans than all other Ivy League schools combined, while maintaining a graduation rate above 90% and a record of job and graduate school placement that equals Columbia’s non-veteran graduates.

However, during this same period, it became clear that service members in transition continue to face barriers reaching their potential in accessing higher education and beginning meaningful careers, despite the many effective programs offered to this population. By drawing on the lessons and experiences gained working with service members in transition over the past fifteen years, the Center will be a national center of excellence, focused on ensuring transitioning veterans receive access to world class programming and support designed to maximize their potential in education and the workforce.

University Studies for Student Veterans is a full-length MOOC (massive open online course) based on a course that has been taught with great success at Columbia for the last five years.  The MOOC version has been designed specifically to help veterans transition smoothly from military service to higher education, and bolster their success once they arrive. Led by a team of academic advisors from Columbia University with more than 20 years of experience supporting students—including thousands of student veterans—transitioning to higher education, this course offers strategies for academic success for service members and veterans navigating the transition from military service to the college classroom.