Modeling Education Deserts for Veterans and Military Families in the Southern United States

Despite billions of dollars invested in educational benefits for veterans and active-duty military families under the U.S. Post-9/11 GI Bill, many prospective students are not forging pathways through public institutions of higher education, and funding is disproportionately spent on for-profit coll...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the American Association of Geographers 2022-05, Vol.112 (4), p.1084-1107
Main Authors: Solís, Patricia, Aljaddani, Amal H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Algorithms
análisis difuso
Colleges & universities
Demographics
Deserts
desiertos de educación
Economics
Education
education deserts
Educational attainment
Educational institutions
Families & family life
Forging
fuzzy analysis
Geographic information systems
Geographical information systems
Geography
Higher education
Higher education institutions
Information systems
Information technology
Military
Military personnel
Private sector
Public sector
Regional development
Remote sensing
Science and technology
Spatial analysis
STEM
veteranos
Veterans
Veterans education benefits
Workforce
教育沙漠
模糊分析
退伍军人
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Summary:Despite billions of dollars invested in educational benefits for veterans and active-duty military families under the U.S. Post-9/11 GI Bill, many prospective students are not forging pathways through public institutions of higher education, and funding is disproportionately spent on for-profit colleges. To reveal patterns of lack of access and opportunity, we propose a novel, robust analysis tailored to the situation of veterans and military families in the southern United States. This methodology delineates education deserts using fuzzy algorithms and multivariate spatial analysis to move beyond simple "hotspot" identification of distance from university locations. Results and comparisons of four models confirm different patterns for veterans versus nonveterans and show dynamic regional changes from 2005 through 2017 that reflect shifting demographics, economics, and educational offerings. These insights could inform a roadmap for outreach that accounts for shifting education deserts and potentially workforce opportunities through geographic analysis. This approach represents a potential first step for academic actors, especially in the public sector, who play a role in advancing science, technology, engineering, and math; geography; and geographic information systems to enable veteran and military families to better achieve equitable rates of educational attainment.
ISSN:2469-4452
2469-4460
DOI:10.1080/24694452.2021.1947769