CUNY Recruiting Program Seeks War Veterans

In preparation for an expected influx of 10,000 new soldiers returning to the city from Iraq and Afghanistan over the next year, the City University of New York is embarking on an aggressive recruiting effort for veterans and funding new programs to help ease the transition to student life from a structured military existence.

With the number of high school graduates in New York State expected to decline by 14.5% over the next eight years, CUNY is counting on qualified veterans to help fill its classes to compensate for the smaller applicant pool.

"It's important for the university to open its doors and provide appropriate access for them," the director for disability and veterans services at CUNY, Christopher Rosa, said. "We're hoping to be ready to extend to them higher educational opportunities and ease their transition back to college and civilian life."

For returning soldiers, who are often several years older than the average incoming freshman, studying alongside recent high school graduates can become a source of embarrassment or self-consciousness.

"You feel like you're in a world of your own," a veteran of the Iraq war and student at Borough of Manhattan Community College, Justin Whaley, said. "You feel a social disconnect."

Mr. Whaley, 26, spent six months in Iraq in 2003. "One of the main drawbacks is that in the military, you lead a structured life, and then you get back and it's just, 'Here's college, figure it out for yourself, have fun!'" he said.

CUNY is launching a new network of support groups and advisers for veterans.

Through its school of social work at Hunter College, CUNY for the first time is funding a program, Project Prove, that brings social workers experienced in working with post-traumatic stress disorder to all 23 CUNY campuses. La Guardia Community College, New York City College of Technology, and Queensborough Community College also have received grants to improve their veterans service programs.

CUNY, which now has close to 3,000 returning veterans among its 450,000 students, has boosted its veteran population by about 10% every year since 2004 and is planning for a major spike in veteran applicants over the next few years. Later this month, 12 CUNY colleges will host a major college fair at Baruch College to recruit veterans, and CUNY also is allowing some veterans to enroll in classes before they receive their tuition money from the federal government.

"Veterans have some unique requirements and sometimes need special counseling, and we seek to provide them with whatever services they need," the vice chancellor for student development at CUNY, Garrie Moore, said.

John Jay College of Criminal Justice is the most popular CUNY college among veterans, who are often interested in pursuing careers in fire rescue and public safety, Mr. Moore said.