Educational Assistance

Veterans have a wealth of employment resources available to them from their State and County or Tribal Veteran Service Officer (Wisconsin CVSO or TVSO), Veteran Service Officers, VA or state sponsored Veteran Affairs programs, a Chartered or non-Chartered Veteran Service Organizations (VSO), One Stop Career Centers. Often overlooked are the employment or re-employment services Veterans can access at their local Career One Stop Center Veteran and Military Transition Centers, Job Service Office or Workforce Development Centers.  In addition to physical locations Veterans have access to a wealth of online services such as:

• VETS - Veterans Employment and Training Services
• Career OneStop: Veteran and Military Transition Center
• Office of Personnel Management
• VFW Transition and Employment Services

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The Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) has 16 colleges throughout Wisconsin.  At present the WTCS offers over 500 degree programs (i.e., usually a two-year or two-year equivalent program), short-term diplomas (i.e., generally a specialized training or established six months to one year program) and apprenticeships (i.e., the in-school portion of an approved apprenticeship) .

Whether you are a veteran, the spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran, or child of veteran there are a wealth of services available.  Each of the 16 WTCS offers guidance to the veteran community on how to successfully traverse the Federal VA Education and Training options, State Education (Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs), and community education available in your area.  Even with this assistance the Foundation always recommends that veterans or their family members contact County or Tribal Veteran Service Officer to ensure you know your educational options in the State as well as the many educational benefits programs.

We encourage those in the veteran community seeking information on education opportunities using VA benefit, State veteran benefits, or benefits through a veteran service organization to either locate and contact a Veteran Service Officer in area.

If you are unsure of what education and training programs suit you and your needs you are encouraged to locate and talk to your Vet Rep often located in or attached to a Workforce Development Center.   Vet Reps are either Disabled Veteran Outreach Program Specialist or DVOP or a Local Veterans Employment Representative or LVER.  While their primary responsibility is to serve as a conduit between veterans and employers, they need to know your full history (i.e., pre-military, military, and post-military education, training and employment history).  Oftentimes, the Vet Rep may identify a hole or gap in employment or training that could block successful future employment and suggest short-term training to fill the gap.  The Vet Rep may find that the gap between where you are today and where you want to be is significant and recommends you discuss your goals with a career counselor within the Workforce Development Center or the nearest vocational technical college.

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College and university education generally includes bachelor’s degree, university certificate or diploma above bachelor  level, degree in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry,  etc.); master’s degree; law; and earned doctorate.  Generally, you can earn three types of degrees: 

1. bachelor’s degree, 
2. master’s degree  (more advanced & requires an undergraduate degree), and 
3. doctoral  degree (most advanced and requires a master’s degree). 

Graduates of  regulated professions (e.g., medicine, law, education) have to complete  internships and pass standard exams before they can be licensed to work  in their field.

Veterans entering a post-secondary College or University to start or complete a bachelor's degree should locate the school's Veteran Resource Center staff (e.g., UW-Milwaukee's Military and Veterans Resource Center - MAVRC) to learn about the on campus resources, specifically for veterans and their families.  In addition, entering or returning to a post-secondary school must meet with an admissions counselor - preferably one who specializes in returning veterans.

If you are just beginning the process of education look over Best Colleges.  The very first thing they offer is a Guide for Service Members and Veterans.  Often missed in the planning process is all of the training one has had in the military.  For service members and those about to transition out of the service, DoD put together DANTES (Defense Activity for Nontraditional Education Support) which provides no-cost education and career planning programs.  A unique resource is Military One Source which provides a wealth of information on both employment and education.  Finally, as you are considering returning to the post-secondary world of education bring the knowledge you learned.  Get a transcript from JST (Joint Services Transcript) "...the JST lists all of your military course completions, occupation and  career training , any college-level test scores you may have, and other  military learning experiences. A summary page consolidates all this  information showing the American Council on Education (ACE)  recommendations for college credit.  You might be surprised to see just  how many of your skills from the military could possibly transfer to  college credit." (DANTES).

Once you have made your decision to either enter or return to post-secondary schooling be certain to contact your County's Veteran or Tribal Service Officer (CVSO or TVSO) or Veteran Service Officer (VSO) in your area of the United States or one of our Territories. 

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