The Century Foundation: Predatory Colleges Think They Are Too Flawed to Fail. Biden’s Department of Education Should Prove Them Wrong.
For too long, however, predatory for-profit schools have enrolled students and harvested their federal aid without holding up the school’s end of the bargain, violating the terms of their PPAs; it’s time for ED to [...]
Inside Higher Education: The Debate Over Instructional Spending Policies
“The purpose of instructional expenditure policies was never to suggest that they (the authors of the report) -- either by themselves or in conjunction with outcomes -- would be adequate proxies for quality,” said Barmak [...]
GAO: VA Could Better Inform Veterans with Disabilities about Their Education Benefit Options
As of August 2020, approximately 4.7 million veterans had a serviceconnected disability, making up about 26 percent of the total veteran population. As these veterans transition to civilian life, many choose to pursue higher education [...]
FTC Sends Nearly $30 Million in Refunds to People Tricked into Enrolling by School Operator’s Lead Generators
June 9, 2021 U.S. Federal Trade Commission For Release Career Education Corporation refund distribution, averaging more than $3,700 per person, is the largest per person average in agency’s history The Federal Trade Commission is sending [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at Dream Center schools
Introduction This memo summarizes and analyzes complaints received by Veterans Education Success from military-connected students who attended Dream Center schools. These schools were formerly owned by Education Management Corporation (EDMC), which closed some schools [...]
Postsecondary Outcomes for Undergraduate Veterans of Color
As America grapples with systemic racial injustice, it is more important than ever to examine the outcomes of veterans of color who are using the GI Bill to earn a postsecondary credential. In a 2011 [...]
GAO: 94% of PSLF Applicants Employed By DoD Have Been Denied; 124 Active Duty Servicemembers Have Earned Loan Forgiveness
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: DOD and Its Personnel Could Benefit from Additional Program Information The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is intended to encourage people to enter public service. It forgives the federal student loan [...]
Our Analysis: Project’s Findings on the Effect of Closing the 90/10 Loophole Have Serious Shortcomings
In February 2021, the Veterans Education Project (the Project) released a report on the impact of closing the 90/10 loophole. The report’s authors were Jason Delisle, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), [...]
Purdue Global/Kaplan – Recent Actions and Concerns
Purdue Global (Kaplan) Recent Actions and Concerns In March 2018, Purdue University finalized the acquisition of Kaplan University, a for-profit institution offering primarily online education. Kaplan University transferred 14 campuses, 30,000 students, and 2,100 faculty [...]
DeVry University – Recent Actions and Concerns
DeVry University Recent Actions and Concerns DeVry University is currently owned by Cogswell Education LLC, after changing ownership several times in the past from DeVry Educational Group to Adtalem Global Education. Cogswell Education is controlled [...]
Colorado Technical University, American InterContinental University, & Trident University – Recent Actions and Concerns
Colorado Technical University, American InterContinental University, & Trident University Recent Actions and Concerns Colorado Technical University (CTU), American InterContinental University (AIU), and Trident University are owned by the for-profit company Perdoceo Education Corporation, publicly traded on the [...]
University of Phoenix – Recent Actions and Concerns
University of Phoenix Recent Actions and Concerns University of Phoenix is a for-profit college owned by Apollo Global Management, previously publicly-traded on the U.S. stock market. The company’s stock suffered after numerous government investigations revealed [...]
Grand Canyon University – Recent Actions and Concerns
Grand Canyon University Recent Actions and Concerns Grand Canyon University (GCU) is owned and operated by the for-profit company Grand Canyon Education, Inc., traded on the NASDAQ under “LOPE.” In 2018, the for-profit company sold [...]
Ashford University/University of Arizona Global Campus – Recent Actions and Concerns
Ashford University/University of Arizona Global Campus Recent Actions and Concerns In August 2020, Zovio, Ashford University’s owner, announced that the University of Arizona would acquire Ashford for $1 and turn it into the University of [...]
Issue Brief from Student Borrower Protection Center: “Withholding Dreams”
Link to the Student Borrower Protection Center Issue Brief here.
Maryland Wins $2.6 Million in Loan Forgiveness for Brightwood College Students
November 16, 2020 - The Maryland Attorney General reached a settlement with Brightwood College to provide loan relief to Maryland students. Any loans owed directly to the school by Maryland students will be cancelled and, [...]
Report: Protecting Military Borrowers: How the Department of Education Can Restore the Promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness for American Servicemembers
Introduction Policymakers have long acknowledged that financial readiness is intrinsic to military readiness and that the unique financial stress imposed by military life can impede America’s national security. In fact, Congress has repeatedly taken steps [...]
Report: Protection and the Unseen: How the U.S. Department of Education’s Undeveloped Authorities Can Protect Students and Promote Equity in Higher Education
Abstract Higher Education is changing and demands enhanced oversight by the U.S. Department of Education. This paper identifies underused authorities in the Higher Education Act of 1965 that can promote equity and protect students and [...]
Brookings Institution: Where Have All the GI Bill Dollars Gone?: Veteran Usage and Expenditure of the Post 9/11 GI Bill
Kofoed, Michael S., U.S. Military Academy and Brookings Institution, “Where have all the GI Bill dollars gone? Veteran usage and expenditure of the Post-9/11 GI Bill,” (Oct. 2020), This report is available at Brookings: https://www.brookings.edu/research/where-have-all-the-gi-bill-dollars-gone/ [...]
Issue Brief: Investigative Analysis: Advertising Trends for Selected Postsecondary Institutions during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Click here to download a PDF copy of the report. Click here to download the Appendix including screen-captured ads as part of the analysis. Highlights Our investigation examined how a [...]
FTC Online Tool on Consumer Complaint Data by Military and Veterans
July 13, 2020 U.S. Federal Trade Commission For Release The Federal Trade Commission launched a new tool that explores data about problems military consumers may experience in the marketplace. For the first time, data about [...]
VA’s Resolution of 3696 Violations by 5 schools
On July 2, 2020, VA notified 5 schools at risk of losing eligibility to enroll GI Bill students over deceptive recruiting that their prior resolutions with federal and state law enforcement would suffice, rendering 38 [...]
Investigative Analysis: Advertising by For-Profit and Other Schools in Response to COVID-19
Statement by Veterans Education Success (August 5, 2020) - "Veterans Education Success regrets to inform you that this report has been removed. Although we are confident in our findings about the number of ads that [...]
COVID-19 and Postsecondary Enrollment: Lessons from the Last Recession
Click here to download a PDF of the report. On June 8, 2020, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the U.S. economy had peaked in February 2020 and officially [...]
Schools with Repeat Law Enforcement Settlements
On March 9, 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) notified five institutions of higher education that it possessed evidence they had violated Title 38 § 3696, which prohibits payments to schools that engage in [...]
VA’s Revised Guidance to Schools on Correcting Violations of 38 USC 3696
On May 26, 2020, VA sent revised guidance to schools at risk of losing eligibility to enroll GI Bill students due to deceptive and misleading advertising and recruiting, in violation of 38 USC 3696. This [...]
Federal Student Aid Annual Report FY 2019
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid FY 2019 report detailing the organization’s fiscal year financial and program performance.
2020 Toolkit for State Policymakers
Visit the website page here: https://vetsedsuccess.org/2020-toolkit-state-policymakers/
New York City Department of Consumer Affairs Report, Ill-Served: Why NYC Veterans Should Use Extra Caution When Choosing a For-Profit School
"Unfortunately, all too often, veterans’ tuition benefits go to for-profit programs and schools with poor graduation and employment outcomes4 that, in the words of Hollister K. Petraeus, the former head of the Office of Servicemember [...]
Veterans’ Use of Private Student Loans: A Primer
Click here to download a PDF copy of the report. Highlights Based on our analysis of ED survey data from academic year 2007-08 to 2015-16: The proportion of undergraduate student veterans at for-profit schools taking [...]
Impact of Disability on First-Time Student Veterans’ Persistence and Attainment
Click here to download a PDF copy of this Issue Brief Highlights Among undergraduate veterans who enrolled in postsecondary education for the first time in 2011-12, 33% reported a disability, compared to 15% of non-veterans [...]
VA’s Guidance to Schools on Correcting Violations of 38 USC 3696
On May 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent guidance to 5 schools at risk of losing eligibility to enroll GI Bill students because of 38 USC 3696, which prohibits VA from approving [...]
State Policy Advocacy Report January 2019 – April 2020
In just the last sixteen months, Veterans Education Success has worked with state legislators, higher education non-profits, and veteran/military service organizations to introduce first-in-the-nation 90/10 loophole closure bills in three states.
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at ITT Technical Institute
What follows is a public version of a “trends analysis” document we prepared detailing the types of harm observed by us in our free legal services to service members, veterans, and their dependents who brought [...]
Coronavirus-Related Legislation and Its Relevance to GI Bill and Other VA-Supported Students
Click here to download a PDF copy of the report. This paper is intended to serve as a primer on recent Public Laws and legislation intended to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus emergency [...]
Oregon: Institutional Sector Comparisons
This fact sheet provides statistics comparing Oregon public, for-profit, and nonprofit postsecondary institutions with respect to: • Enrollment—total vs. students using the GI Bill and DOD Tuition Assistance, • Dollars received for students using the [...]
Maryland: Institutional Sector Comparisons
This fact sheet provides statistics comparing Maryland public, for-profit, and nonprofit postsecondary institutions with respect to: Enrollment—total vs. students using the GI Bill and DOD Tuition Assistance, Dollars received for students using the GI Bill [...]
New York: Institutional Sector Comparisons
This fact sheet provides statistics comparing New York public, for-profit, and nonprofit postsecondary institutions with respect to: Enrollment—total vs. students using the GI Bill and DOD Tuition Assistance, Dollars received for students using the GI [...]
SAS Global Forum 2020 Report: Post-9/11 GI Bill: Teasing Out Insights about Veterans’ Success in Postsecondary Education
By Walter Ochinko, Research Director, Veterans Education Success Abstract This paper (1) examines the challenges researchers face in using publicly available databases to track veterans use of GI Bill benefits and their success in earning [...]
Initial Notification Letters from VA to Colleges on 38 USC 3696
University of Phoenix Career Education Corporation Temple University Bellevue University
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Colorado Technical University
As part of our free legal assistance to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as the GI Bill, to attend colleges and universities around the country. We received 228 [...]
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Ashford University
As part of our free legal assistance to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as the GI Bill, to attend colleges and universities around the country. We received 109 [...]
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about American InterContinental University
As part of the free legal assistance we provide to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as the GI Bill, to attend colleges and universities around the country. We [...]
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about University of Phoenix
As part of the free legal assistance we provide to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as the GI Bill, to attend colleges and universities around the country. We [...]
TICAS: The Evolution of the For-Profit College Industry
The Evolution of the For-Profit College Industry: New Challenges for Oversight focuses on important changes to the sector, which include the growth of online education, the efforts of for-profit colleges to convert to non-profit status, [...]
Law Enforcement Actions Against Predatory Colleges
This document summarizes government actions against predatory colleges, providing links to the government actions. If you are aware of a law enforcement action or private lawsuit that is not listed, please email us at help@vetsedsuccess.org. [...]
Key Photos from our work Elevating Veteran Voices: 2019
Check out photos of our veterans telling Washington what's needed!
Report from New America: “The Bermuda Triad: Where Accountability Goes to Die”
New America released a report detailing the role of the Triad (federal government, states, accreditors) in holding institutions of higher education accountable and provided recommendations for how to strengthen the Triad. Link here.
Georgetown Center on Education & the Workforce: A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges
Using data from the expanded College Scorecard to rank 4,500 colleges and universities by return on investment, A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges finds that bachelor's degrees from private colleges, on average, have higher [...]
The 85-15 Rule and Related GI Bill Safeguards
The impact of the 85-15 rule—a requirement that education programs enroll at least 15% non-veterans to ensure schools are not bilking VA, as occurred after WWII—has evolved over time. This Issue Brief presents the Congressional [...]
Annual and Cumulative Student Loan Debt Among Veterans Using and Not Using GI Bill Benefits
This Fact Sheet examines student loan borrowing in academic year 2015-16, comparing undergraduate veterans who received any GI Bill educational benefits (beneficiaries) to those who did not (nonbeneficiaries). In addition to their borrowing during that [...]
VA and States Should Act on Early Warning Signs When Risks to GI Bill Beneficiaries and Taxpayers Emerge at Participating Schools
This report is one in a series of three reports by Veterans Education Success on State Approving Agency (SAA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) oversight of GI Bill participating schools. A second report examines [...]
Congress Should Consider Authorizing VA to Require Letters of Credit from Schools in order to Mitigate Risks to Veterans and Taxpayers
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) lacks the authority to require letters of credit (LOC) from schools eligible to enroll GI Bill beneficiaries. In contrast, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) can require schools [...]
What Graduation Rates Have Missed for Community College Students
A report from the Center for American Progress.
The Century Foundation: How to Stop Sudden College Closures
The U.S. Department of Education’s current system of financial oversight of colleges does not forecast the future condition of an institution but rather only examines the past and it implements well-intentioned but ineffective interventions that [...]
VA Still Not Enforcing 1974 Ban on Schools that Engage in Deceptive Advertising and Recruiting
Summary: This Issue Brief examines the history of schools that rely on misleading advertising and recruiting to enroll veterans and eligible family members and subsequent ban by Congress in 1974 based on contemporaneous findings of [...]
Weak Return on Investment at Trade Schools that Enroll GI Bill Beneficiaries
Highlights We found that student outcome data at Title IV- participating trade schools that enroll GI Bill beneficiaries in certificate programs showed a disappointing return-on-investment but robust retention and graduation rates (see table 1). For [...]
Proposed Short-Term Pell Safeguards Should Be Further Strengthened
Highlights Recently reintroduced legislation known as the JOBS Act would make federal Pell Grants available for very short, 8-week programs intended to help individuals “afford the skills training and credentials that are in high-demand in [...]
Top 10 Ways the New Borrower Defense Rule is Bad for Borrowers
The Institute for College Access & Success, National Consumer Law Center, and The Century Foundation released the following fact sheet describing the ways the new Borrower Defense rule is worse for borrowers than the 2016 [...]
GAO Report: More Information Could Help Student Parents Access Additional Federal Student Aid
US Government Accountability Office report: More Information Could Help Student Parents Access Additional Federal Student Aid Highlights: "About 1 in 5 undergraduates were raising children in 2015-16, according to the Education Department. Child care costs [...]
Defense Department Office of Inspector General: Audit of Controls at Military Installations for Schools Participating in the DoD Tuition Assistance Program DODIG-2019-122
The US Defense Department (DoD) Office of Inspector General determined whether military installations had implemented controls for the DoD Tuition Assistance Program that were designed to ensure that educational institutions with authorized access to DoD [...]
Overemphasis on Payment Accuracy Impedes More Effective SAA Oversight of Schools Participating in the GI Bill
Executive Summary State Approving Agencies (SAA), state-level entities that operate under contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), were established to serve as gatekeepers for GI Bill participating schools. Their ability to provide effective, [...]
Army.com List of Partner Schools Exposed
The Federal Trade Commission shut down a number of copycat military websites in September of 2018. This report examines one of those websites, Army.com, and the list of partner schools it displayed while in operation. [...]
1st Half of 2019 – Our Accomplishments
VES' activity and accomplishments in the first half of 2019
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment 2018 Longitudinal Study
The Department of Veterans Affairs published the results for Fiscal Year 2018 of its Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment longitudinal study. The main goal of the study is to examine the post-program outcomes for the VR&E [...]
Should Colleges Spend the GI Bill on Veterans’ Education or Late Night TV Ads? And Which Colleges Offer the Best Instructional Bang for the GI Bill Buck?
Every year, around 700,000 Post-9/11 GI Bill students enroll in an institution of postsecondary education, a benefit earned through sacrifice and service to our nation. The GI Bill represents America’s thanks for veterans’ military [...]
Proposed Education Department Regulatory Changes Should Be Reevaluated Based on GI Bill Oversight Lessons
ED’s rulemaking should be revaluated based on the lessons learned from GI Bill oversight and the impact on veterans. In each of the areas ED is proposing changes, veterans have been disproportionally harmed in a [...]
Elevating Veterans’ Voices | After Action Report | 2018 Roundup
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Veteran Student Loan Debt 7 Years After Implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill
In May 2018, we reported on trends in veteran student loan debt from just before the 2009 implementation of the more generous Post-9/11 GI Bill (2007-08) to 3 years after the new benefit became available [...]
2018 Year-End Report
A summary of VES' work in 2018
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Annual Reports on GI Bill Usage and Other Benefits
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs published reports on the usage of GI Bill and other military benefits.
New America Foundation: The Cautionary Tale of Correspondence Schools
In July, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the formation of a negotiated rulemaking committee to develop regulations to expand access for students to “high-quality, innovative programs” by revising or rescinding a sweeping range [...]
Could Education Corporation of America’s Sudden Closure Have Been Avoided?
Earlier this month, another for-profit college chain closed abruptly, leaving more than 20,000 students and 4,000 GI Bill beneficiaries wondering why this happened and how this will affect their future educational endeavors. On December 5, [...]
Career Education Colleges and Universities: Outcomes at Selected Member Schools
After a brief history of CECU, this report provides “key takeaways” from our analysis of both descriptive and outcome data for the 26 CECU-member schools. The report concludes with a discussion of some of the [...]
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Inspector General: VA’s Oversight of State Approving Agency Program Monitoring for Post-9/11 GI Bill Students
Prior VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports have identified significant financial risks in how the education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill are administered. The OIG conducted this audit to determine if VA and [...]
Postsecondary Non-Completion Among Veterans: Contributing Factors and Implications
This paper uses Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS), a longitudinal survey conducted by the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to examine factors contributing to and the impact of non-completion for “first-time” student [...]
Why Aren’t More Undergraduate Student Veterans Enrolling at Selective Colleges? Veteran Undergraduate vs Graduate Student Demographics
Selective colleges with high graduation rates enroll far fewer veterans pursuing undergraduate certificate, associate’s, or bachelor’s degrees than those seeking post-baccalaureate degrees such as master’s, PhD’s, or certifications. This Issue Brief explores demographic and enrollment [...]
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences: Military Service and Educational Attainment of High School Sophomores After 9/11: Experiences of 2002 High School Sophomores as of 2012
This Statistics in Brief examines 2002 high school sophomores’ entrance into military service through 2012, up to 8 years after most graduated from high school in 2004. The report provides estimates regarding the timing of [...]
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 – [...]
Higher Education Act Reauthorization: Senate Democratic Committee principles
“Go back and say to your children and to your grandchildren, and those who come after you and follow you—tell them that we have made a promise to them. Tell them that the truth is [...]
The Forgotten Faces of Student Loan Default
The Center for American Progress analyzed Education Department surveys which followed students from 2003 when they enrolled in postsecondary education through 2015. The report highlights five groups of students with disproportionate student loan debt burdens [...]
Is Trident University a Good Choice for Military-Connected Students?
Trident, a University that focuses heavily on recruiting military-connected students, has a mixed record. Its outcomes are better than Ashford’s, another for-profit school that is exclusively online, and the proportion of Trident students with federal [...]
Student Outcomes at Colleges Approved by the Accreditor ACICS
Veterans Education Success analyzed the most recent U.S. Department of Education (Department) data to determine student outcomes at the approximately 100 schools still accredited by the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). ACICS [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Education Department Needs to Provide Better Information for the Loan Servicer and Borrower
As of April 2018, over a million borrowers had taken steps to pursue Public Loan Service Forgiveness (PSLF) from the Department of Education (Education), but few borrowers have been granted loan forgiveness to date. The [...]
Proposed Borrower Defense Rule: Worse than 2016 for Military-Connected Students
This chart makes clear the differences between the 2016 rule and the proposed 2018 rule at the US Education Department.
U.S. Department of Treasury: A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation: Report to President Donald J. Trump per Executive Order 13772 on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System
President Donald J. Trump established the policy of his Administration to regulate the U.S. finan- cial system in a manner consistent with a set of Core Principles. These principles were set forth in Executive Order [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at Trident University
What follows is a public version of a “trends analysis” document we prepared detailing the types of harm observed by us in our free legal services to service members, veterans, and their dependents who brought [...]
Elevating Veterans’ Voices | After Action Report | Winter/Spring 2017-18
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Center for American Progress: The 85 Colleges That Only ACICS Would Accredit
June 12 was supposed to be the end of the road for colleges that relied on the Accrediting Council for Independent Schools and Colleges (ACICS) for access to federal financial aid, marking 18 months since [...]
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 [...]
Center for Responsible Lending: A Bitter Pill: Gainful Employment and Credentialism in Healthcare Support Fields: Findings from the Gainful Employment Data, Website Disclosures, and a Focus Group of For-Profit College Borrowers
The marketing of for-profit colleges is ubiquitous, yet student outcomes are consistently poor. These outcomes include high dropout rates, low and unstable earnings of graduates, and heavy debt burdens that students are unable to repay, [...]
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 Century Foundation: Background on Bogus Nonprofit Conversions (powerpoint slides), provided to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity
A student enrolling at a for-profit college is two hundred times more likely to end up filing a fraud complaint seeking a refund on their federal loans than a student enrolling at a nonprofit.
U.S. Defense Department: Credentialing Program Utilization
The report that follows is submitted in response to the request in Senate Report 115-125, page 150, that the Department of Defense (DoD) submit a report to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate [...]
Veteran Student Loan Debt Before and After the Post-9/11 GI Bill
A major goal of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which modernized veterans’ educational benefits, was to provide veterans with the opportunity of a debt-free, postsecondary education—or, at a minimum, to mitigate their student loan debt. The [...]
Third Way: The Pell Divide: How Four-Year Institutions are Failing to Graduate Low- and Moderate-Income Students
Since 1972, the Pell Grant has served as the primary tool for increasing access to higher education for low- and moderate-income students. That’s why the federal government continues to spend nearly $30 billion dollars on this [...]
National College Access Network: Defining College Affordability: Shutting Low-Income Students Out of Public Four-Year Higher Education
College affordability is a perennial topic around kitchen tables, in the media, and for stakeholders with interest in seeing more students access and complete a postsecondary education. Low- and middle-income students and families wring their [...]
Swords to Plowshares: The Path Forward: What Universities Need to Know to Help Student Veterans Succeed
During the 2017-2018 academic year, Swords to Plowshares’ Institute for Veteran Policy conducted qualitative research with 75 veterans and nine campus staff from Bay Area colleges to assess formal and informal supportive practices on campuses [...]
Despite a 2016 Statute, the GI Bill Still Pays for Degrees That Do Not Lead to a Job
VES’s 2015 report, The GI Bill Pays for Degrees that Do Not Lead to a Job, identified 8-degree programs offered by 15 different schools, at both brick and mortar campuses and online, that failed to [...]
Urban Institute, Student Loan Debt in America: An Interactive Map
Credit can be a lifeline during emergencies and a bridge to education and homeownership. But debt, which can stem from credit or unpaid bills, often burdens families and communities and exacerbates wealth inequality. This map [...]
U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General recommendations for HEA
U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General recommendations for HEA
Press Release: “Increasing College Success for Student Veterans and Today’s Students” | Student Veteran Panel Discussion
“Increasing College Success for Student Veterans and Today’s Students” Student Veterans Panel Feb. 22, 2018 On February 22, 2018, Veterans Education Success hosted a panel of student veterans who shared their experiences, ideas, and proposals [...]
Brookings Institution: Gainfully employed? New Evidence on the Earnings, Employment, and Debt of For-Profit Certificate Students
As the U.S. Department of Education proposes weakening the Gainful Employment (GE) rules regulating for-profit and vocational education programs, accurate estimates of the earnings outcomes and debt incurred by students in these programs are essential [...]
Center for American Progress: A Second Status Update on ACICS Colleges
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will hold a May meeting to help decide whether the problematic accrediting agency Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) should again be allowed [...]
Children’s Advocacy Institute: Failing U: Do state laws protect our veterans and other students from for-profit postsecondary predators?
The Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI), part of the University of San Diego School of Law, identified several elements that are essential to addressing the problems outlined in this report and protecting students by effectively regulating [...]
FTC Approves Final Consent Order in Victory Media Advertising Case
Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a final order settling charges that Victory Media violated Section 5 of the FTC Act in connection with its promotion of post-secondary schools to [...]
Elevating Veterans’ Voices | After Action Report | Summer and Fall 2017
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The Incentive Compensation Ban and Its Importance to Veterans
The incentive compensation ban is a provision of Title IV of the Higher Education Act. It prohibits schools from using incentive compensation to pay employees working in recruitment and financial aid. Schools, in other words, [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at Ashford University
In 2017, we conducted a review of the complaints we have received from veterans and servicemembers who have attended Ashford, as part of our free legal services for veterans and servicemembers. What follows is a [...]
Student Loan Borrower Assistance: ED Turns 325,000 Student Loan Borrowers Over to Debt Collectors It Fired for Breaking the Law
With nearly a quarter of federal student loan borrowers in default, borrowers need a system that will help them to successfully repay their loans. Unfortunately, the Department of Education continues to reward contractors that lie [...]
Center for American Progress: Who Are Student Loan Defaulters?
Every year, 1 million student borrowers default on nearly $20 billion in federal loans. New data present the best picture ever accessible of who these borrowers are, the path they took into default, and whether or [...]
CFPB: What Does the Coast Guard Know About The GI Bill That Other Services Do Not?
More than a hundred thousand servicemembers ship out to basic training each year. While their uniforms might be different shades of camouflage, active duty servicemembers are all given the same choice: "Should I pay $1,200 [...]
Enrollment Trends and Student Outcomes at Ashford University
This Fact Sheet examines the enrollment trends and student outcomes at Ashford University, including (1) how much of the school's revenue comes from the GI Bill; (2) what are its veteran enrollment trends; (3) how [...]
The Century Foundation: Gainful Employment and for-profit college regulatory structure
Some people refer to public, nonprofit, and for-profit as a college’s “tax status.” But that is misleading. The monikers refer to the legal requirements for how the institutions operate and who they are accountable to, [...]
The Borrower Defense Rule and Its Importance to Veterans
The Borrower Defense Rule gives the Education Department the authority to forgive federal student loans for students that prove their debt was incurred because they were defrauded by a school. It has been in place [...]
The Gainful Employment Rule and Its Importance to U.S. Veterans
The Gainful Employment Rule, finalized in 2014 and upheld by federal courts multiple times, implements the requirement in the Higher Education Act that career education programs (whether for-profit, public, or non-profit) must “prepare students for [...]
Harvard Law School Report: Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at Kaplan Schools
In 2017, Veterans Education Success contracted with Harvard Law School's Project on Predatory Lending to analyze complaints against Kaplan brought to Veterans Education Success by student veterans. For-profit schools have garnered significant attention for their [...]
Sampling of Student Complaints about Ashford University
"[Ashford] lied about the costs. When I asked to withdraw I was told I would have no debt. I asked a number of times. I explained to my advisor that I was struggling and they [...]
Ashford’s Fight to Maintain GI Bill Access Raises Questions about the Enforcement and the Adequacy of Statutory Requirements
Ashford’s potential loss of its eligibility to enroll veterans using the GI Bill and its more than year-long effort to maintain that eligibility raises questions about the enforcement of statutory approval requirements by State Approving [...]
Department of Education Data Shows Increased Targeting of Veterans and Servicemembers, Highlighting Urgency of Closing 90/10 Loophole
For several years, the media has reported on the declining enrollment in the for-profit sector. However, our analysis of federal revenue flowing to the for-profit sector from the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Defense [...]
The Century Foundation: College Complaints Unmasked: 99 Percent of Student Fraud Claims Concern For-Profit Colleges
The Century Foundation (TCF) has obtained new data from the U.S. Department of Education about nearly 100,000 “borrower defense claims”—applications for loan relief from students who maintain that they have been defrauded or misled by [...]
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Elizabeth Warren: Insult to Injury: How the DeVos Department of Education is Failing Defrauded Students
This staff report examines the current status of Borrower Defense discharges under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Trump Administration. It includes recent data on the tens of thousands of unprocessed claims for relief, and [...]
Higher Education Act Reauthorization: Senate Republican Committee white paper
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is working on a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The law dates to 1965 and has been reauthorized 8 times. The last reauthorization occurred in [...]
Federal Trade Commission announces lawsuit and settlement terms with Victory Media/GI Jobs/Military Friendly
Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a final order settling charges that Victory Media violated Section 5 of the FTC Act in connection with its promotion of post-secondary schools to [...]
Repayment Status for First-Time Student Veterans 12 Years After Enrolling
Drawing on the National Center for Education Statistics' First Look report on Student Loan Debt, Repayment and Default, this Issue Brief highlights key findings on veteran student loan debt.
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
U.S. Government Accountability Office: U.S. Education Department Should Address Oversight and Communication Gaps in Its Monitoring of the Financial Condition of Schools
The Department of Education (Education) reviews the annual audits of postsecondary schools to assess compliance with financial responsibility standards for schools that participate in federal student aid programs and increases its oversight of schools that [...]
The American Legion Resolution Against Force Arbitration
The American Legion Resolution in Favor of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Rule Against Forced Arbitration
American Legion Resolution to protect gainful employment and borrower defense
The American Legion resolution to protect gainful employment and borrower defense rules.
The American Legion Resolution to Close the 90/10 Loophole
https://vetsedsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/American-Legion-Resolution-90-10.pdf
The Military Coalition’s Letter on Protecting the CFPB
The Military Coalition’s letter to Congress requesting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau be protected.
Veterans in Class Actions Lawsuits
The Military Coalition’s letter to Congressional leadership requesting veteran access to class action lawsuits against predatory lenders.
Veterans with Pending Borrower Defense Applications at the Education Department
"I have a so-called degree from ITT Tech and found that most employers laugh at it. During my time there I had accrued a fair amount of debt from this fraudulent school and am having [...]
Yale Law School Report: Student Veteran Complaints Alleging Illegal Practices at University of Phoenix
In 2016 and 2017, Veterans Education Success contracted with Yale Law School's Veterans Legal Clinic to analyze complaints against the University of Phoenix (UOP) brought to Veterans Education Success by student veterans. UOP is a [...]
US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of Servicemember Affairs, Charting our Course Through the Military Life Cycle
This report introduces the Office of Servicemember Affairs’ new focus: charting the financial issues a servicemember faces throughout his or her military career. We have received over 74,000 complaints from the military community since 2011 [...]
Yale Law School Report: Student Veteran Complaints Alleging Illegal Practices at Colorado Technical University
In 2016 and 2017, Veterans Education Success contracted with Yale Law School's Veterans Legal Clinic to analyze complaints about Colorado Technical University (CTU) brought to Veterans Education Success by student veterans and military students. What [...]
The Century Foundation: When George H. W. Bush “Cracked Down” on Abuses at For-Profit Colleges
When George H. W. Bush became president on January 20, 1989, he inherited from the Reagan administration some unfinished business in higher education. Bill Bennett, President Reagan’s secretary of education, had launched an effort to [...]
VA’s Minority Veterans Report: Military Service History and VA Benefit Utilization Statistics
US Department of Veterans Affairs report: "Minority Veterans Report: Military Service History and VA Benefit Utilization Statistics" (March 2017) https://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReports/Minority_Veterans_Report.pdf
The Century Foundation: The Reagan Administration’s Campaign to Rein in Predatory For-Profit Colleges
No secretary of education has been more critical of traditional higher education than William Bennett, President Ronald Reagan’s second and best-known education secretary. Barely five days after taking office in February 1985, Bennett accused the [...]
The Century Foundation: Truman, Eisenhower, and the First GI Bill Scandal
The 1944 GI Bill is rightly remembered as one of the most effective social policy programs in U.S. history. Thanks to the GI Bill, millions of soldiers returning from World War II had the opportunity [...]
Brookings Institution: How Much Do For-Profit Colleges Rely on Federal Funds?
The outgoing Obama administration placed for-profit colleges under a great deal of scrutiny. This includes gainful employment regulations that will require graduates of vocationally-oriented programs to meet debt-to-earnings requirements and borrower defense to repayment rules [...]
CNA for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness: Population Representation in the Military Services: Annual Reports
CNA Resource Analysis produces Population Representation in the Military Services (also known as “Pop Rep”) for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. This report, mandated by the Senate Committee [...]
U.S. Department of Education, New Analysis Finds Many For-Profit Colleges Skirt Federal Funding Limits (Dec. 2016)
U.S. Department of Education, New Analysis Finds Many For-Profit Colleges Skirt Federal Funding Limits: 90/10 Data Released (Dec. 2016). Data excel spreadsheet here. New analysis released today by the U.S. Department of Education reveals many [...]
U.S. Department of Education: New Analysis Finds Many For-Profit Colleges Skirt Federal Funding Limits: 90/10 Data Released
New analysis released today by the U.S. Department of Education reveals many for-profit schools would likely exceed the 90/10 federal funding limits if revenue from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense [...]
Federal Trade Commission Announces $100 Million Settlement with DeVry University for False Job Placement Claims
DeVry University and its parent company have agreed to a $100 million settlement of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging that they misled prospective students with ads that touted high employment success rates and income [...]
Benjamin Castleman, Francis Murphy, and William Skimmyhorn, Marching Across Generations? An Analysis of the Benefits Transfer Provision of the Post-9/11 GI Bill
This study explored the use of standardized tests within nursing programs. Standardized tests have been used within nursing programs for several decades (Shultz, 2010), but recently their use has increased. This rise in utilization may be [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs, Report: Education Denied: The Importance of Assisting Veterans Harmed by School Closures (Oct. 2016)
For over 70 years, the GI Bill has helped our nation’s veterans and their families obtain a high- quality education. In 2008, Congress expanded higher education benefits for a new generation of returning service members [...]
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Economic Communities Initiative Pilot: 2016 Report & Highlights
In January 2015, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published the 2015 Veteran Economic Opportunity Report to provide data on indicators of the possible success of ongoing initiatives and barriers to economic competitiveness for [...]
The ITT Collapse: Lessons Learned and Dealing with Future Challenges
The seeds of ITT Tech’s collapse were decades in the making. Deregulation of the for-profit college industry certainly played a rise in enabling ITT’s increasing dependence on federal dollars, but corporate short-term thinking, greed, consumer [...]
U.S. Federal Trade Commission Staff Perspective on Lead Generation (deceptive websites that sell personal information)
One pundit has called it the most pervasive industry that nobody knows about, which is why the FTC has sponsored a workshop, brought law enforcement actions, and just published a Staff Perspective to call attention [...]
Misleading Websites and “Lead Generators”: A Case Study: Victory Media’s “Military Friendly Schools”
Too often, veterans and servicemembers are misled and deceived by websites and “lead generators” that steer the veterans and servicemembers to colleges that pay the websites, as part of a grand scheme by the [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at DeVry University
What follows is a public version of a “trends analysis” document we prepared detailing the types of harm observed by us in our free legal services to service members, veterans, and their dependents who brought [...]
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, A Profile of Military Undergraduates (statistics on military, veteran, and dependent college students)
The number of veterans who receive Veterans’ education benefits increased both before and after the Post-9/11 GI Bill went into effect in 2008. In the 9 years between 2000 and 2009, the number of veterans receiving Veterans’ [...]
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 [...]
Trends in Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about ITT Technical Institute
What follows is a public version of a “trends analysis” document Veterans Education Success prepared detailing the types of harm observed by us in our work providing free legal services to service members, veterans, and [...]
Yale Law School: VA’s Failure to Protect Veterans from Deceptive College Recruiting Practices
In 2015 and 2016, Veterans Education Success contracted with Yale Law School's Veterans Legal Clinic to analyze VA's failure to adhere to a federal statute. This analysis proceeds in two parts. First, it explains the [...]
FTC Files Suit Against DeVry University for Deceptive Recruiting
Defendant DeVry Education Group Inc. (DEG) is a publicly traded Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at 3005 Highland Parkway, Downers Grove, Illinois. DEG was formerly known as DeVry Inc. DEG transacts or [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: Post-9/11 GI Bill: Additional Actions Needed to Help Reduce Overpayments and Increase Collections
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) identified $416 million in Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments in fiscal year 2014, affecting approximately one in four veteran beneficiaries and about 6,000 schools. Overpayments most often occur when VA [...]
U.S. Department of Education, Strengthening the Student Loan System to Better Protect All Borrowers
Never before has higher education been so critical to ensuring a good future and a promising career. A postsecondary education and training credential continues to be the most important investment students can make in their [...]
FTC Settles with Ashworth College over Misleading Recruiting Methods
Ashworth College has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges it misrepresented to students that they would get the training and credentials needed to switch careers or get a new job, and that the course [...]
The Corinthian Sale: Lessons Learned & Dealing With Future Challenges
The February 2015 sale of about half of Corinthian campuses to Zenith Education Group—a brand-new subsidiary of the student loan guaranty agency and debt collector ECMC—provides an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned and prepare [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Is the New GI Bill Working? For-Profit Colleges Increasing Veteran Enrollment and Federal Funds (2014)
Almost three years ago the HELP Committee determined that eight of the top 10 recipients of veterans’ educational benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits were large, publicly traded companies that operate for-profit colleges. A [...]
Irene Coons, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Use of Standardized Tests Within Nursing Education Programs
This study explored the use of standardized tests within nursing programs. Standardized tests have been used within nursing programs for several decades (Shultz, 2010), but recently their use has increased. This rise in utilization may be [...]
Why For-Profit Schools are Targeting Veterans Education Benefits
Why For-Profit Schools are Targeting Veterans Education Benefits “We’ve got to make sure you’ve got every tool you need to make an informed decision when it comes to picking a school…. Right now, it’s not [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success
Between June 2010 and July 2012, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin conducted an in-depth oversight investigation focusing exclusively on the for-profit sector of higher education. Theinvestigation was undertaken to better understand the enormous growth [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: PowerPoint Slides on GI Bill & For-Profit Colleges (2012)
What Are Taxpayers and Veterans Getting For Their Money? Taxpayers Spend More than Twice as Much to Train Veterans at ForProfit Colleges
U.S. Education Department Data on For-Profit Colleges’ Violation of 90/10 Law
Explore the internal Department of Education analysis obtained by The Center for Investigative Reporting that shows 133 for-profit colleges are so dependent on taxpayer money that they would be violating a law designed to prevent [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Executive Summary: For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success (2012)
A 2-year investigation by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions demonstrated that Federal taxpayers are investing billions of dollars a year, $32 billion in the mostrecent year, in companies that operate for-profit [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Charts on Defense Department & For-Profit Colleges (2012)
For‐Profit Colleges Collect Half of All Department of Defense Tuition Assistance Benefits
David Deming, Claudia Goldin & Lawrence Katz, The For-Profit Post-Secondary School Sector: Nimble Critters or Agile Predators? American Economic Association Journal of Economic Perspectives
Private for-profit institutions have become an increasingly visible part of the U.S. higher education sector. Within that sector, they are today the most diverse institutions by program and size, have been the fastest growing, have [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Department of Defense Data Reveals For-Profit Colleges Are Taking in the Bulk of Military Education Benefits (2012)
New information provided by the Department of Defense (DOD) and analyzed by the majority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) shows that for-profit colleges are receiving one of [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Recruiting Training Manuals from Top for-Profit Colleges (2012)
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions conducted an investigation into predatory behavior at the nation's largest for-profit schools, who receive hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars and veterans benefits, and [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: DOD Education Benefits: Increased Oversight of Tuition Assistance Program is Needed
GAO recommends that DOD (1) improve accountability for recommendations made by third- party quality reviews, (2) develop a centralized process to track complaints against schools, (3) conduct a systemic review of its oversight processes, (4) take actions [...]
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Benefitting Whom? For-Profit Education Companies and the Growth of Military Educational Benefits (2011)
Serious questions have emerged about the share of the military educational benefit pool going to for- profit schools with questionable outcomes. Congress may have unintentionally subjected this new generation of veterans to the worst excesses [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: For-Profit Colleges: Undercover Testing Finds Colleges Encouraged Fraud and Engaged in Deceptive Marketing Practices
Enrollment in for-profit colleges has grown from about 365,000 students to almost 1.8 million in the last several years. These colleges offer degrees and certifications in programs ranging from business administration to cosmetology. In 2009, [...]
Mettler, “‘The Only Good Thing Was the GI Bill’: Effects of the Education and Training Provisions on African American Veterans’ Political Participation”
Dr. Suzanne Mettler, a senior professor of government at Cornell University, and a well-regarded expert on the WWII GI Bill (author of Soldiers to Citizens: The GI Bill and the Making of the Greatest Generation) [...]
U.S. Senate Permanent SubCommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs: Abuses in Federal Student Aid Programs (1991)
This report on abuses in federal student aid programs, particularly the Guaranteed Student Loan Program (GSLP), is based on information gathered by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the course of its overall investigation [...]
GAO Report on VA Debt Collection from 1981
The U.S. Government Accountability Office released the following report titled "Legislation Plus Aggressive Action Needed to Strengthen VA's Debt Collection."
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Report to Accompany S.2784 Vietnam-Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (S. Rep. 907, 93d Congress) (1974) (see especially pages 71-72 and 126 re: 85-15 rule)
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 2784) to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the vocational rehabilitation subsistence allowance, educational assistance allowances, and the special training allowances [...]
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...