LAUSR

Abstract Military student veterans’ distinct life pathways often make it difficult for educational researchers to adequately capture and represent the challenges and opportunities they face in college. Thus, student veteran educational programs and policies are often built on inaccurate notions about their experiences and identities. Using Veteran Critical Theory as an organizing framework, this article describes two qualitative methods used in a study of student veterans: the key event timeline and the identity circle. The resulting data offer rich, thick description beyond what is typically captured through standard in-depth interviews. Student veterans construct their own narratives and offer counter-narratives that challenge prevailing assumptions about what it means to be a veteran in higher education. This qualitative approach could help veteran studies move from a deficit-based focus to an asset-based framework, and may be useful to educational researchers studying other marginalized populations.