Persistence of Student Veterans Attending a Community College Through the Covid-19 Pandemic

Student veterans attending community college face many challenges under normal
circumstances. These challenges can have a significant impact on the experiences of student veterans’
educational journey and academic persistence. Current research addresses these unique challenges
faced under normal circumstances, but in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed student veteran
challenges in an unprecedented way. In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all institutions of
higher education to abruptly close their campuses and shift to online education. This extraordinary
occurrence impacted all students, but especially student veterans. The purpose of this narrative study
was to explore the experiences of student veterans who attended a community college prior to and during
the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to gain an understanding of any factors contributing to their academic
persistence through to completion of their educational goals, including either a college course, certificate,
or degree, while navigating the pandemic. The study sought to describe these experiences during the
pandemic and to discover any impact these experiences during the pandemic might have had on student
veterans’ academic persistence.