Psychological hardiness, Big Five Personality, and demographic factors as predictors of college enrollment among military veterans

Abstract

Enrolling in college and obtaining a degree may result in higher earnings over a lifetime and greater life and job satisfaction. Research has suggested that military veteran students were at risk for dropping out of college due to factors related to transitioning back into civilian life. However, more recent research indicates that military veterans now graduate at equal rates to non-veteran students. Although more veterans have enrolled in college and ultimately obtained their degrees, there are many military veterans who have chosen to forgo utilizing GI Bill benefits to enroll in college. Prior research has focused on psychological hardiness and Big Five Personality factors in the everyday lives of military veterans. This study examined the effects that psychological hardiness, Big Five Personality factors, and demographics have on predicting the likelihood that military veterans will enroll in college. This study revealed that military veterans with moderate to high levels of the Big Five Personality domains Conscientiousness and Agreeableness were more likely to enroll in college than military veterans with lower levels of those traits. In addition, as age and socioeconomic status increased, the likelihood that veterans would enroll in college also increased. This study did not find that psychological hardiness predicts college enrollment among military veterans.