The Military & Veteran Population and Institutions of Higher Education: Academic Capitalism and the Undergraduate Student Market

Abstract

This study explored IHE Websites and revealed how IHEs position themselves in marketing to prospective students who are service members or are veterans. A content analysis of institutional Websites demonstrated how IHEs profile and perceive members of the military and veteran population as potential students. Part of this study informed and enhanced the messaging of IHEs to the military and veteran population in ways that better serve this population and its needs, and to better fulfill the public purposes of not-for-profit IHEs. Part of the study’s purpose was to apply and explore the explanatory value of the concepts of institutional isomorphism and academic capitalism.