How Declining College Enrollment Affects Admissions and Tuition for Military Students
Military-connected students looking to transfer from military life to a college degree program face shifting college admissions policies as universities adjust recruitment practices to anticipate lower enrollment in future years.
How Declining College Enrollment Affects Admissions and Tuition for Military Students
A Concordia University study from 2026 notes, “Over the past decade, a growing number of private nonprofit colleges and universities have implemented tuition resets: large reductions in published tuition prices, typically 15–50%, in an effort to address declining enrollment, rising tuition discount rates, and increasing price sensitivity among prospective students and their families.”
Furthermore, “Another major motivation is to break the cycle of rising tuition discounting that affects many institutions. Between 2011 and 2023, the institutional discount rate, which is the percentage of a college or university’s gross tuition and fee revenue awarded back to students in the form of institutional financial aid, increased from 42% to 57% for first-time full-time students…”
Changing those numbers is only part of the struggle for military-friendly colleges in today’s economy. While the military community is a reliable source of students and provides a steady stream of new faces into the college “pipeline”, colleges have legal challenges when it comes to the military student community that directly affect recruitment.
>> Find VA-approved schools — try our School Finder tool.
Veteran-Related College Challenges
According to federal law, colleges should have no more than 85% supported students (such as those funded by the GI Bill or other VA benefits) to 15% non-supported students to maintain VA approval. New high-technology and specialized vocational certificates must verify their non-supported civilian enrollment ratios as a condition of admitting veterans under the GI Bill.
Some colleges struggle to meet these requirements, and schools that used to do well but now face declining enrollment may review their admissions policies to stay in compliance.
Add to that the pressures of declining enrollment and it’s easy to see why schools are taking a hard look at the way they attract and keep students. The tuition discount is one factor students should keep in mind. Are you comparison shopping to see which college offers the better rates?
Future College Tuition
Tuition may vary more in future semesters depending on military status. Nonresident tuition rates at state universities can be up to three times in-state tuition but the Choice Act requires public universities to bill in-state tuition rates to veterans and dependents who use Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill benefits, regardless of official state residency.
When colleges decide how to credit and charge students for the college experience, they must now consider this factor when setting rates. Such changes in federal law definitely affect a school’s financial bottom line.
Colleges and other institutions of higher education are re-evaluating their policies on transcript assessments and standardized tests, and they are also facing scrutiny over tuition categories. Fortunately, veterans seem to be a “protected class” in these cases. Many colleges are reviewing their application and transfer options, trying to keep up with the times without leaving military students behind.
>> Find VA-approved schools — try our School Finder tool.
Shifting Admissions Policies
Admissions offices typically use separate evaluation criteria for veterans and other applicants for obvious reasons. Admissions staff examine education, military training, service roles, and discharge documentation. But in today’s shifting landscape, some long-held traditions, including SAT and ACT requirements, may be set aside for military or military-affiliated applicants even as colleges enforce them for certain students outside the military community.
In some cases, for example, if a student has been out of academia for a long time, the test requirement may differ, but more colleges seem to offer waivers for military-affiliated learners regardless of how long they’ve been away from college.
More Generous College Credit for Veterans?
Traditionally, campus registrars review Joint Services Transcripts, Community College of the Air Force records, and discharge paperwork to award academic credit for military experience coursework. Over the years, that credit seems to have gotten more generous. Is more military credit part of the higher education system’s coping mechanism for the current economy and lower admission rates?
Illinois State University, for example, has granted veterans who completed only one year of military service six semester hours of elective credit. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign grants up to four semester hours of lower-division military science credit to transferring veterans. Any college credit earned while serving may qualify for additional consideration, depending on the school.
Did you know some colleges may count Basic Training as a physical fitness class? Some schools are considering adding more college credit for military experience to shore up admissions rates.
Application Fees
Application fees and related expenses vary by institution and are currently under consideration across a large number of schools. Campuses may offer application fee waivers for military applicants, and campus veteran centers process paperwork for benefits. While military members and spouses may not face application fees at some schools because of their military status, their college-age dependent children may (depending on circumstances) have to pay the fee, depending on whether they use transferred GI Bill benefits or other VA education benefits.
The Bottom Line
The military community may be shielded from some of the changes nonmilitary students may face in future semesters, but military students should stay on top of program changes that could affect their student status. Currently, academia remains uncertain about a variety of legacy college options, especially for international students, and the future of higher education still raises questions.
>> Find VA-approved schools — try our School Finder tool.
About the author
Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
