By Delaney McCoy | Talon staff
Tallahassee Community College helps military students navigate specially designed programs and make the most of the college’s numerous resources. TCC’s Veteran Affairs program provides support that helps military students stay in school at a higher rate than non-military students.
A commonly used indicator of student success measures how many students are enrolled from year to year. According to TCC’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness, about 65 percent of military students that attended in Fall 2019 were still enrolled at TCC in Fall 2020. That compares to 58 percent for non-military students.
TCC’s Veterans Affairs office helps military veterans through specialized programs. The Veterans Educational Assistance Programs aids veteran students in paying for tuition and choosing studying majors. TCC is also home to the Veterans Success Center which offers study space with computers and access to free tutoring and advising.
Veterans Success Center Coordinator Daniel James completed John Wilson’s paperwork so he could take the PERT test, which was necessary since Wilson had to take because he had graduated from high school a long time ago. Air Force veteran John Wilson was then able to enroll at TCC this past summer after being out of school for many years.
Wilson said enrolling into TCC has made him happy regardless of COVID guidelines.
“TCC has reminded me of my high school years,” Wilson said. “Even if it’s on Zoom just seeing everyone’s faces makes me excited for school.”
TCC student Jarod Bruns recently came back from deployment in Iraq after three years in the U.S. Army. He said the TCC Veteran Affairs office helped him tremendously with his GI Bill by working things out with the United States Veteran Affairs office for him.
“Overall, TCC has helped me a lot with the process of transitioning out of the military and into college,” Bruns said.
Dr. Lei Wang is TCC’s associate vice president for Institutional Effectiveness. She said there are about 500 veterans and veteran families attend TCC and she is extremely proud of the Veterans Affairs program.
“Being an immigrant, I am a proud American and I believe we should do everything we can to support our vets,” Wang said “Without them we would not have freedom and we would not be America. We will do everything to support them.”
Veteran students said they are thankful for the support provided by the Veterans Affairs program and staff members.
“Becoming used to civilian life is stressful but the Veterans Affairs program took a lot of the weight off my shoulders.” Bruns said “Overall, I’m super thankful I chose to come to TCC.”
