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HR 3486: Recognizing Military Service in PSLF Act

"To direct the Secretary of Education to deem each month for which certain Federal student loans are in deferment during a period of active duty service as months counted toward public service loan forgiveness." Sponsored [...]

Coalition Letter: Support for California’s SB-802

The Honorable Jose Medina Assembly Higher Education Committee Legislative Office Building, Room 173 Sacramento, California 95814 RE: SUPPORT for SB 802 as Amended 5/5/2021  Dear Chair Medina:  We represent a group of student, veteran, consumer, [...]

Schools with Repeat Law Enforcement Settlements

Many Corporate School Chains Repeatedly Settled Lawsuits for Misleading Advertising, High-Pressure Recruiting, and False Certifications On March 9, 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) notified five institutions of higher education that it possessed evidence [...]

11th Circuit ruling in Great Lakes

We filed an amicus brief about veterans' need for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, in support of a legal case regarding students' rights to use state law to sue loan servicing companies that fail to honor [...]

HR 6157: Transparency for Student Veterans Act

"To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to collect and include certain student outcome information in the GI Bill comparison tool of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and [...]

Inside Higher Ed: Higher Ed Deal in the Works?

"'Chairmanship succession can be unpredictable, depending on the complicated Rubik's cube of committees and seniority and requests that Senator McConnell may face,' said Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success and former Democratic senior counsel [...]

Lima Veteran Goes to Washington

A terrific news story about a brave veteran, Tasha Berkhalter, whom we brought to Washington to tell Congress what they need to do to help veterans with student debt caused by college fraud. Lima Veteran [...]

New York Times: Protect Veterans from Fraud

On January 1, 2020, the New York Times ran a full-page editorial by the Editorial Board featuring Veterans Education Success' work: "Nevertheless, a 2018 report from Veterans Education Success, a nonprofit that provides legal help [...]

HR 4613: VA Reporting Transparency Act

This bill requires VA to post on the VA website all reports to Congress, so that the public may see them. Read the full bill at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4613/text

Learn about the Protect the GI Bill Act

Overview of The Protect the GI Bill Act Gives Student Veterans the Same Rights as Other Students Contained within the larger Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement [...]

HR 4162

HR 4162 by Representatives Roe and Bergman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee will protect servicemembers from the "tax on troops" in which servicemembers pay $1200 for the Montgomery GI Bill, which most never use, [...]

HR 4162: GI Bill Planning Act of 2019

This bill: extends in-state tuition at public universities and colleges for all veterans, eliminating the provision that had required veterans to enroll "within 3 years" of leaving military service; gives servicemembers more time (6 months) [...]

HR 4085: Student Veteran Empowerment Act of 2019

We are grateful to the GOP leadership of the House Veterans Affairs Committee for this excellent bill, which: Helps solve the problem of GI Bill overpayments by requiring monthly enrollment verification; Ensures that "deemed approved" [...]

HBO: Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas: The Cost of College

The HBO news show, Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas, worked with Veterans Education Success to expose for-profit colleges' targeting and fraud against veterans.  They interviewed student veterans we are helping and whistleblower former college recruiters [...]

Protecting Servicemember Loan Rates

Military and veteran groups wrote to the Department of Defense thanking them for automating SCRA rights and asking for restitution to servicemembers who previously were not accorded to these rights that they were entitled to. [...]

Politico: Betsy DeVos’ Bet on Boot Camps

As Americans look to build the skills they need for the fast-changing job market, a new type of education provider has swept onto the scene: the coding boot camp, an intensive, short-term training program for [...]

Advice for Accreditors

Recruiting practices by institutions of higher learning is an area fraught with deceptive and misleading practices, due to a number of competing incentives. While veteran recruiting practices differ from civilian recruiting in some respects – [...]

The Hill: Protect the Military Lending Act

Standing with the troops requires more than lip service. It also requires action. When the Pentagon found that predatory payday loan shops and unethical car dealers were trolling military bases and aggressively targeting the troops [...]

Press Release: Veterans and Military Service Organizations Urge Education Department Not to Rollback Student Protections and Quality Controls in Program Integrity Rules

September 14, 2018 For Immediate Release:                                             Contact: Carrie Wofford, (202) 838-5050   Veterans and Military Service Organizations Urge Education Department Not to Rollback Student Protections and Quality Controls in Program Integrity Rules  Veterans also Travel [...]

VA Proposes to Waive Ethics Rule for VA Employees

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) intends to waive the application of applicable Federal regulations (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION) for all VA employees who receive any wages, salary, dividends, profits, gratuities, or services from, or own [...]

Press Release: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Rescission of Gainful Employment Fails Statutory Obligation to Stop Waste, Fraud, and Abuse and to Protect Taxpayer Dollars – and Knowingly Puts Veterans and Servicemembers at Risk

September 13, 2018 For Immediate Release:                                           Contact: Carrie Wofford, (202) 838-5050 Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Rescission of Gainful Employment Fails Statutory Obligation to Stop Waste, Fraud, and Abuse and to Protect Taxpayer Dollars – and [...]

Politico: Military Groups Speak Out

Starting today, Veterans Education Success has taken out ads in news outlets across the country, including near military bases, featuring a letter from 38 military and veteran service organizations calling on the Consumer Financial Protection [...]

CAPPS v. DeVos & Bauer v. DeVos | DOCUMENTS

This brief is submitted by the National Consumer Law Center (“NCLC”) and by 17 legal aid and other non-profit organizations that work on behalf of students and student loan borrowers, consumers, low-income individuals, teachers, college [...]

CFPB and DoD: Protect Servicemembers’ Rights

38 veterans and military service organizations call on the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and US Defense Department to stop the rollback of servicemembers' rights under the Military Lending Act   Resubmitted Sept. [...]

NYT Opinion: The Bane That is Betsy DeVos

Today let’s talk about the evil deeds of Betsy DeVos. We’ve been distracted, what with Omarosa and the Manafort trial and that $90 million military parade we were so looking forward to. At the same time, [...]

Press Release: Betsy DeVos Ignores Veterans on Gainful Employment

For Immediate Release:                                                                        Contact: Carrie Wofford, (202) 838-5050 August 10, 2018 Betsy DeVos Ignores Veterans on Gainful Employment Education Department failed to consider veterans’ perspectives in gutting the Gainful Employment rule, which imposed accountability on [...]

Military.com: How to Fight VA Debt

The Department of Veterans Affairs says you owe them money. You disagree. But how do you fight Uncle Sam when he comes for your cash? If there's one thing military members know, it's that when the Defense [...]

Piercing the Veil of Covert For-Profit Colleges

Recent efforts by certain predatory for-profit colleges to convert to nonprofit status1 raises the question of whether the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can continue to exercise jurisdiction over those entities’ misleading and deceptive recruiting [...]

Storm the Hill | PROSPER Act | After Action Report

In June, representatives from America's largest Veterans Service Organizations stormed Capitol Hill to encourage lawmakers to oppose a proposed piece of legislation called the "PROSPER Act," a terrible bill which would have decimated military families [...]

The Hill: A Call To Service Without Debt

As a country, we have encouraged our children to strive for bright futures. We prod them to go to college, pursue apprenticeship programs, and otherwise climb the ladder of opportunity by seeking educational opportunities beyond [...]

Task & Purpose: ‘They Didn’t Have To Kill Him’: The Death of Lance Corporal Brian Easle

The thing that everyone remembered about the man in the light gray sweatshirt was how composed he was, how polite and respectful. One morning this past summer, he quietly entered a Wells Fargo bank branch in the Atlanta suburbs in a desperate state. But he didn’t curse or even raise his voice. He just calmly relayed the litany of setbacks and obstacles that had led him to an extraordinarily reckless act.

Inside Higher Ed: A Low Bar for Bar Passage

Nearly nine out of 10 law school graduates who sat for the bar exam within two years of graduating passed it, according to new data from the American Bar Association. But more than 10 percent of [...]

Military Times: Student loan forgiveness benefit on the chopping block

A benefit that lets service members and other government workers write off student loan debt would vanish under a new proposal in Congress. Republican-backed legislation would eliminate a program that allows borrowers in full-time public service jobs to have their student loans forgiven after making payments for 10 years — a move that military and veterans groups say would hurt their members.

The Hill: A Law Connection

One nonprofit on the platform is Veterans Education Success, which provides free legal services to veterans who were taken advantage of by predatory for-profit colleges. “When Betsy DeVos came into the Department of Education, they started to [...]

Veteran Preference in FTC Oversight

Veteran and Military organizations ask the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce to prioritize veterans and service members in Federal Trade Commission oversight.

American Heroes Network: Veterans Education Success

Veterans Education Success provides: • Free Help for Veterans: Free legal services, advice, and college and career counseling to veterans, servicemembers, and their survivors and families who faced college fraud or abuse in using their [...]

The Hill: The Real Tax on Troops

A recent blog post by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) highlights an alarming trend as recruits join today’s All-Volunteer Force. According to CFPB, during last fiscal year, 70 percent of new recruits paid into the Department [...]

New York Times: Exploiting Veterans for Profit

Editorial Exploiting Veterans for Profit By The Editorial Board Nov. 24, 2017 Despite efforts by Congress, the Obama administration and state attorneys general to stop the predatory practices of for-profit colleges, veterans and service members [...]

Press Release: Veterans Education Success Releases New Report Showing 90/10 Loophole is Worse Than Previously Thought: Department of Education Data Shows Increased Targeting of Veterans and Servicemembers, Highlighting Urgency of Closing 90/10 Loophole

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 9, 2017 CONTACTS: Walter Ochinko, (202) 838-5050   Department of Education Data Shows Increased Targeting of Veterans and Servicemembers, Highlighting Urgency of Closing 90/10 Loophole   Today, Veterans Education Success is [...]

Inside Higher Ed: VA Drops Plan to Nix Ethics Rule

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday dropped a controversial plan to suspend an ethics law that prevents its employees from receiving pay or other benefits from for-profit institutions, The Associated Press reported. A recent inspector general report had [...]

Education Department Hearing: Video of Melissa Bryant, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

On​ ​behalf​ ​of​ ​Iraq​ ​and​ ​Afghanistan​ ​Veterans​ ​of​ ​America​ ​(IAVA)​ ​and​ ​our​ ​over​ ​400,000 members,​ ​I​ ​would​ ​like​ ​to​ ​thank​ ​you​ ​for​ ​the​ ​opportunity​ ​to​ ​speak​ ​today​ ​at​ ​this​ ​hearing​ ​on educational​ ​regulatory​ ​reform.​ ​My​ [...]

Education Department Hearing: Testimony of Melissa Bryant, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

On​ ​behalf​ ​of​ ​Iraq​ ​and​ ​Afghanistan​ ​Veterans​ ​of​ ​America​ ​(IAVA)​ ​and​ ​our​ ​over​ ​400,000 members,​ ​I​ ​would​ ​like​ ​to​ ​thank​ ​you​ ​for​ ​the​ ​opportunity​ ​to​ ​speak​ ​today​ ​at​ ​this​ ​hearing​ ​on educational​ ​regulatory​ ​reform.​ ​My​ [...]

Inside Higher Ed: Wis. Governor Kills For-Profit Oversight Agency

After years of attempts, Scott Walker, Wisconsin's Republican governor, has successfully eliminated the state's Education Approval Board as an independent agency tasked with overseeing for-profit colleges. Walker's partial veto last week of a budget bill accelerated the timetable [...]

Federal Trade Commission Nominations

Student Veterans of America Letter to U.S. Senate Commerce Committee re: Federal Trade Commission Nominations https://vetsedsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SVA-letter-FTC-nomination.pdf

National Guard Association Implementing New Changes

National Guard Association of the United States Resolutions to close the 90/10 loophole, require schools to disclose credit transfer and other policies, and reinstate GI Bill for veterans at closed schools https://vetsedsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NGAUS-Resolutions-2017.pdf

Albany Times Union: DeVry Students to Get $2,800 Each

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that hundreds of students will receive restitution following the Attorney General’s investigation into DeVry Education Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries DeVry University, Inc. and DeVry/New York, Inc. (collectively, [...]

Military Times: New GI Bill passes Senate

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have unanimously passed legislation to make major changes to education benefits for military veterans. Now all that’s left is for President Trump to sign it into law — and the White [...]

Veterans in Class Actions Lawsuits

The Military Coalition’s letter to Congressional leadership requesting veteran access to class action lawsuits against predatory lenders.

New York Times: Predator Colleges May Thrive Again

Editorial Predator Colleges May Thrive Again By The Editorial Board March 23, 2017 Congress has tried since the 1940s to curb predatory for-profit schools that survive almost solely on federal money while they saddle students [...]

Huffington Post: For A Day, Broke Students Win

In a world of mass shootings, Brexit, and a looming dramatic presidential election, the deliberations of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity would hardly seem to matter. But, yesterday, it did.

Inside Higher Ed: Fighting Access for For-Profits

Some for-profit institutions say they just wanted face-to-face access to their students on military bases like other traditional colleges that operate there. But veterans' groups and some Democratic senators are upset by a provision approved [...]

Center for American Progress: ACICS Must Go

Getting students to apply to and enroll in college can require a lot of creativity at an institution without any brand recognition. Even so, FastTrain College’s recruiting tactics took the idea of an exotic approach [...]

Politico: Vets Graduation Rates Get Attention

VETS’ GRADUATION RATES GET ATTENTION: Ponder this figure ahead of Memorial Day weekend: The federal government has provided $62.4 billion for nearly 1.6 million veterans and their families to go to college since the post-9/11 [...]

New York Times: Veterans Groups Seek a Crackdown on Deceptive Colleges

WASHINGTON — Some of the nation’s largest veterans and military organizations sent letters last week to the Veterans Affairs Department asking it to crack down on colleges that prey on veterans by charging exorbitant fees for degrees that mostly fail to deliver promised skills and jobs.

Politico: VA Watchers Want More GI Bill Oversight

VA WATCHERS WANT MORE GI BILL OVERSIGHT: The Veterans Affairs Department’s advisory committee on education wants the agency to improve how it oversees the Principles of Excellence program rolled out by President Barack Obama [http://1.usa.gov/1W68KlU] in [...]

Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers (POST) Act

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today introduced legislation in the Senate that would help put an end to the for-profit industry’s predatory [...]

Veterans Education Relief and Reinstatement Act

Washington DC – Reps. Mark Takano (D-CA), Mark Takai (D-HI), Chris Gibson (R-NY) and Mike Coffman (R-CO) introduced bipartisan legislation yesterday that would restore Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits to veterans affected by the permanent [...]

Full Measure: Cash Cows: Military Colleges

November 1, 2015 — Full Measure brings you our investigation into how for-profit colleges allegedly preying on our military troops. Veterans with benefits and a desire to build a new life become targets, even given a [...]

DOD Puts University of Phoenix on Probation

The Defense Department put the University of Phoenix on probation, prohibited from enrolling military students, following several law enforcement actions and news exposes that University of Phoenix was circumventing Defense Department rules. Below is the [...]

Military Times: For-Profit Colleges: A Consumer’s Guide

Commercial schools have been around for centuries, providing training in fields like accounting and construction that loftier educational institutions did not always offer. America's first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller Sr., completed a course at one [...]

Military and Veterans Education Protection Act

WASHINGTON - Today, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the Military and Veterans Education Protection Act to close a loophole that allows for-profit schools to avoid having [...]

Inside Higher Ed: Backed Into A Corner

As the Obama administration weighs public comment on its second proposal to more tightly regulate for-profit colleges, the industry is once again fighting in earnest to fend off the regulations.

Inside Higher Ed: Following Student Veterans

Veterans and their families have a new website to use as they shop around for colleges and try to make sense of their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs released the [...]

New Online GI Bill Comparison Tool Available

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs launched today an online GI Bill® Comparison Tool to make it easier for Veterans, Servicemembers and dependents to calculate their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and learn more about [...]

No Accreditation, No DoD Money

American Legion writes a letter to Senator Durbin asking for greater protection of Defense Department education funds.

Former DeVry military recruiter/whistleblower testimony

Chris Neiweem, a former DeVry military recruiter, testified before the US Senate Committee on Defense Appropriations for its hearing on the Defense Department's Voluntary Education programs. The full hearing link is here (https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/hearing-on-voluntary-military-education-programs) Chris Neiweem's [...]

VA Registers “GI Bill” as a Trademark

WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that GI Bill is now a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and VA is the sole owner of the mark.

SEC: GiBill.Com | Full Legal Settlement, QuinStreet

This Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (“AVC”) is entered into by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, [...]

New York Times: Education is the Last Thing on Their Minds

The for-profit education industry complained of excessive regulation last fall when the Obama administration issued new rules intended to curb abuses at profit-making colleges and trade schools. But lawsuits brought by whistle-blowers with firsthand knowledge [...]

New York Times: Preying on Veterans

The for-profit education industry has been pushing back hard against new Education Department rules that will make it easier to rein in predatory schools that strip students of financial aid, saddle them with crushing debt [...]

New York Times: Rules for Gainful Education

The Obama administration has already adopted several new rules that will give the Department of Education more authority to rein in corrupt practices by for-profit universities. But the most crucial rule, the “gainful employment” provision, [...]

New York Times: Let the Students Profit

The Obama administration has proposed tough and much-needed regulations for lucrative for-profit colleges. Industry is predictably pushing back hard, with legions of high-priced lobbyists and organized letter-writing campaigns. The administration must hold its ground.

New York Times: Who Profits? Who Learns?

Enrollment at for-profit colleges and trade schools has tripled in the last decade to about 1.8 million, or nearly 10 percent of the nation’s higher education students. These schools, partly because they serve poorer students [...]

Supporting Our Troops: The Post 9/11 GI Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama celebrated the beginning of implementation of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. This bill, through its Yellow Ribbon Programs and partnerships with colleges and universities throughout the nation, will provide our [...]

U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate Educational, Training, and Loan Guaranty Programs Under the GI Bill: Report: Investigating Educational and Training Programs Under GI Bill (1952) (H. Rep. 1375, 82d Congress) – led by “Mr. Veteran” Chairman Olin “Tiger” Teague

There was a rapid uncontrolled expansion of private profit schools during the first several years of the veterans' training programs. Many of these schools were without educational background and experience and offered training of doubtful quality...

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