While entering the military can serve as a productive means of helping individuals decide on a career path, former soldiers may need to supplement the skills they learned while serving with a campus-based or online college degree program.

Fortunately, benefits such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill are making higher education more accessible to active-duty soldiers and veterans alike. Furthermore, many campus-based and online colleges are increasing their efforts to reach out to military students.

For instance, an online college of education recently announced it has been named a Yellow Ribbon school by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for its low tuition. The school, which already accepts the GI Bill as a form of payment, has created an online masters program in education that costs less than the maximum benefit afforded by the VA.

As a result, current and former soldiers who choose to enroll in this course of study will be able to earn a degree free of charge.

Similar courses of study could lead veterans into rewarding civilian careers, as the demand for teachers is expected to increase by 13 percent over the next eight years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.