Institutions of higher education are a key pathway for supplying the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. Military service members have been identified as STEM-ready and a potential pool for STEM as they transition into civilian careers. Furthermore, women are the fastest growing subpopulation of veterans and may decrease the gender gap within STEM. Higher education researchers are interested in understanding the characteristics and experiences of students who select STEM majors and then persist to graduation. Literature related to women veterans is limited and a qualitative case study approach was utilized to achieve an in-depth understanding of their college experiences. This study examined four women who were successfully navigating STEM majors at one institution and revealed their varying motivations for enrollment and persistence. Three themes generated from this study included: self-awareness, success is personal, and military experience matters. Subsidiary themes included starting over; strategy; salience of age; stage of life; self-advocacy; standards; personal attributes; past experiences; personal responsibility for learning; procuring resources; career path (STEM) reinforced or introduced; creditable and credible; and cultivated soft skills. Veteran critical theory, multiple dimensions of identity and intersectionality were useful frameworks to reference as participants expressed the influence of their identities on their …

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (CAA) was an omnibus spending bill that changed Pell grant funding in response to a budgetary shortfall after a four-year investment in student financial aid. The CAA occurred at a time of state disinvestment coupled with increasing tuition and fees. Through the lens of resource dependence and academic capitalism as a conceptual framework, I used panel data in an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to explore the impact of the CAA on Pell grant revenues. I included an interaction term to specifically address the impact of the CAA on public regional universities (PRUs) versus other institutions. Results indicated that the interaction effect between CAA and PRU was jointly significant. The average Pell award per student at PRUs was $13 less than other institutions before the implementation of the CAA. The average Pell award per student at PRUs increased after the implementation of the CAA; however, the average Pell award per student at PRUs was still $20 less than other institutions. Results indicated that the percentage of students receiving Pell awards was a significant and positive predictor of an average Pell award. Interestingly, institutions designated as minority-serving institutions (MSIs) were also significant and positive predictors …