In the wake of the landmark 2023 Supreme Court Case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University, which declared the explicit use of race in college admissions unconstitutional, elite colleges like Dartmouth have sought to show that they base their admissions decisions on diversity of experience, rather than identity checkboxes. Perhaps no admitted student group better offers this desired experiential diversity than student veterans.
In addition to being more racially and socioeconomically diverse than their peers, student veterans bring richer life experiences and unorthodox backgrounds to elite institutions. They often possess extensive technical and communication skills from their military roles, are significantly older on average and are more likely to be married or disabled. Above all, they bring with them the personal experiences of military service, whether in administrative or combat roles. The values and skills instilled in that service, such as collaboration, discipline and problem-solving, make student veterans exceptional citizens and campus leaders. I have personally seen how veterans provide invaluable firsthand insight to the government department by contributing to academic discussions on foreign affairs and military strategy. Student veterans are some of the most valued members of the Dartmouth community, and the Admissions Office recognizes this.
Dartmouth prides itself on being on the cutting edge of veteran recruitment –– and indeed they should. The Admissions Office has a veterans landing page with videos of current student veterans and resources to assist veterans with non-traditional educational backgrounds in applying. Behind the scenes, the office works closely with the Dartmouth Undergraduate Veterans Association, sponsoring students to attend Service to School summits aimed at veteran recruitment. They are also partners in the Vetlink program, which provides specific mentorship to veteran applicants and allows them to include supplemental information about their military experience. Finally, former College President James Wright was instrumental in helping craft the post-9/11 G.I. Bill and its Yellow Ribbon Program, through which the federal government matches private college funding for veteran financial aid beyond the amount specified in the original bill. Today, Dartmouth has unlimited yellow ribbon funding, meaning any qualifying veteran admitted can attend free of cost. It is clear that Dartmouth is doing a lot right when it comes to veteran admissions and recruitment.
Despite these programs, recruitment can always be improved. According to former DUVA president Leland Hemgren ’25, who has received the statistics on veteran yield from the College and worked personally to recruit veterans during his time here, the yield rate for veterans at Dartmouth is disappointingly low, despite all of the Admissions Office’s laudable efforts to recruit them. The Admissions Office does not publicly disclose the number of veteran applicants, acceptees and attendees. But through the figures it has received, DUVA has identified veteran yield as a continuing problem and communicated with the Admissions Office to improve it through financial aid policies. To some degree, the low yield rate might be unavoidable: Ivy League-qualified veterans are highly sought after, so they may just apply to every Ivy and attend the best one they get into. But there also may be a key financial reason that veterans view Dartmouth as less appealing.
According to Hemgren, a number of veterans he spoke to during the application process opted to attend state schools or less prestigious private colleges over Dartmouth for financial aid reasons. Though Dartmouth offers every veteran full financial aid, the College also requires them to expend the benefits of the G.I. Bill in order to get this aid. Once a veteran uses their benefits, they cannot be used again for graduate education. Competitor schools like Princeton University do not require veterans to use their G.I. benefits to attend, meaning they can take advantage of financial aid for their undergraduate education and then attend graduate school on the G.I. Bill. This is certainly not to say that Dartmouth’s veteran financial aid policies are ungenerous — full funding of yellow ribbon scholarships shows an immense amount of dedication to veteran recruitment. However, when every other Ivy also offers full yellow ribbon funding and some effectively tack on free graduate school, allowing veterans to save their G.I. Bill benefits, it is no wonder Dartmouth’s veteran yield is struggling. In a competitive recruitment environment for qualified student veterans, being a step behind means losing student veteran admits — and all they contribute — to other colleges and universities.
Veteran admissions are too often viewed as something done out of charity –– giving back to those who have served our country. While it is imperative to properly appreciate our servicemembers, it is more productive in admissions to view veterans in light of the benefits they bring to the college, rather than vice-versa. If Dartmouth began losing all of its most promising economics students to peer institutions offering financial aid programs, we would almost certainly add such programs in lockstep. The same must be done in this case. Dartmouth students, faculty and administration cherish our student veterans; it is time we adjust our financial aid policies to make sure more actually attend.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
