UCLA

This study examined the college choice process of transfer student veterans who are currently enrolled in a public research university. The research presented in this dissertation utilized both quantitative and qualitative strategies to identify key factors in students’ college choice process. This study focuses on the following two research questions: What are the demographic, military, and educational characteristics of veterans who have transferred to a public research university, and what factors do student veterans, who have transferred to a research university, identify as influential in either supporting or hindering their efforts to apply to and ultimately decide to enroll in a public research university. The study was conducted in two phases, the first being an email survey followed up by a second phase which included in-person interviews with a subset of the surveyed population. The data were analyzed using Hossler and Gallagher’s three-stage model to understand and explain the college process of the military-affiliated transfer student group. The findings of the research indicate that the demographic, background, and military experiences of sample participants were similar to those of national studies of the student veteran population. In addition, the findings of the research indicate that military-affiliated transfer students attending public research universities value academic factors over non-academic factors in their college search process, which differs from previous studies focusing on transfer student veteran populations.