Federal Programs to Assist Military-to-Civilian Employment Transitions: Limited Scrutiny and Substantial Investment in Education Programs

The U.S. government offers a support program to facilitate almost every conceivable military-to-civilian transition. In 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessed the federally funded programs that help transitioning service members, veterans, and their families by catal...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2024
Main Authors: Kleykamp, Meredith, Wenger, Jeffrey B, Elizabeth Hastings Roer, Kubasak, Matthew, Hubble, Travis, Skrabala, Lauren
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Education
Employment
Military strategy
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The U.S. government offers a support program to facilitate almost every conceivable military-to-civilian transition. In 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessed the federally funded programs that help transitioning service members, veterans, and their families by cataloguing 45 programs overseen by 11 federal agencies. This report attempts to update the GAO's analysis by examining the benefits, costs, and evaluations of these programs. This report groups such programs into four categories: the budgetary "Big Four" programs, which include the Post-9/11 GI Bill (PGIB), Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E), the Department of Defense (DoD)'s Tuition Assistance Program, and Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA); second-tier programs, which are the Montgomery GI Bill and Jobs for Veterans State Grants; the third-tier program, the DoD's Transition Assistance Program (TAP); and small programs, which include a variety of programs designed for specialized populations. For each program, the authors present a brief history, identify the populations it targets, and summarize the program's goals and provided benefits. The authors conclude each program's section by characterizing the evaluation literature, highlighting key findings about program effectiveness, and assessing the strength of the evidence supporting these findings.