Many Returning Military Vets Bound For College

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Officials from universities nationwide are getting set for a wave of military veterans going back to college after wars abroad and defense budget cuts.

A three-day conference titled "Success for Student Veterans" begins Friday at the University of South Carolina to discuss ways academia can help the new vets with the transition.

Tens of thousands of new veterans are expected to return to college or the workforce in the next several years as the military downsizes after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as the Pentagon budget is pared back.

The director of Veteran Services at the University of South Florida, Lawrence Braue ('brow'), is one of several participating experts and is exhorting universities to help veterans make the leap from the military to life on a college campus.