Military Students More Likely to Attend For-Profits and Online

Newly released federal data show the enrollment patterns of the 1.1 million military and veteran students who were attending college in 2012, the most recent year covered by the report from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.

During the four years before 2012, the percentage of military undergraduates attending for-profit institutions increased to 24 percent from 14 percent, the report said, while the percentage attending community colleges declined to 37 percent from 42 percent.

In addition, both undergraduate and graduate military students were more likely to enroll in online programs than their nonmilitary peers. The report found that 18 percent of military undergraduates took all of their courses online, compared with 12 percent of their nonmilitary peers. Among military graduate students, 41 percent attended fully online compared to 19 percent of nonmilitary graduate students.