Institutional Coherence in Veteran Student Experience: A Structural Complement to Transition Theory

Research on veteran students in higher education has largely been framed through transition and student success models that emphasize individual adjustment, coping, and resilience. While these frameworks have generated important insights, phenomenological evidence suggests that many challenges experienced by veteran students persist beyond initial enrollment and are shaped by how institutional systems are organized and experienced over time. Drawing on prior qualitative research documenting veterans’ lived experiences, this article advances institutional coherence as a provisional analytic construct for examining how policies, supports, administrative processes, and timelines align from the student’s perspective. Institutional coherence does not assess the mere presence of services or overall effectiveness; rather, it conceptualizes the degree to which institutional components function as an integrated pathway that is intelligible and navigable. Reframing veteran experiences through this lens helps explain why high motivation and persistence may coexist with frustration, fatigue, and diminished institutional trust. By shifting analytic attention from individual transition to institutional structure, this article contributes a complementary perspective to existing models and underscores the role of institutional design in shaping cumulative educational experience. Implications for research, institutional responsibility, and broader nontraditional student populations are discussed.