Indiana University has clear targets in its effort to raise the graduation rate of student veterans after a survey identified several areas for improvement.

John Summerlot heads the Center for Veteran and Military Students at IU Bloomington, which is trying to increase graduation rates for student veterans.

According to John Summerlot, director of the Center for Veteran and Military Students at IU Bloomington, survey results included:

Female veterans are graduating at a lower rate than their male counterparts at IU Bloomington.

IU is one of just two Big Ten schools that doesn't offer priority enrollment for military students.

A gap exists between the actual costs of school versus what the GI Bill pays.

IU is involved in Operation Hoosier Promise. The three-year program is part of the university's implementation of the American Talent Initiative, a nationwide effort to provide academically talented low- and moderate-income students with access to colleges and universities with high graduation rates.

IU joined the American Talent Initiative in March 2018. In November 2018, the Office of Veterans Support Services was renamed the Center for Veteran and Military Students when it moved from the Indiana Memorial Union to a larger space at 823 E. 11th St.

The university's next step was creating Task Force Hoosier, an effort to improve relationships between students and faculty, coordinate support and reduce barriers. The task force has focused on areas such as career advising and services, and creating and promoting resume workshops.

"We are rapidly increasing programs and services for veterans," Summerlot said.

In 2019, a group of master's students in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program conducted a survey to assess the social climate of veteran and military students at IU Bloomington and determine how the Center for Veteran and Military Students is working for the student veterans. It revealed several eye-opening results.

Female veterans are graduating at a rate of 63 percent from IU Bloomington, while male veterans are graduating at a rate of 70 percent. The overall graduation rate at IU Bloomington is almost 79 percent, he noted. At all other IU campuses, female veterans graduate at a higher rate than their male counterparts, although the gap in the rates varies, Summerlot said.

"So, we are trying to figure out why and what barriers they are running into," he added.