As VA moves to lift those restrictions, advocates are arguing it could be entering murky legal waters.
New students can again use GI Bill benefits to enroll at the five schools — worth a potential $200 million annually for the schools, all told.
But Veterans Education Success, a Washington, D.C.-based veteran advocacy organization, argues VA is violating federal law by moving forward.
Federal law prohibits VA from signing off on students using the GI Bill for enrolling at schools proven to use “advertising, sales or enrollment practices of any type which are erroneous, deceptive or misleading, either by actual statement, omission or intimation.”
VA’s decision “renders the federal statute governing GI Bill meaningless,” the group said in a statement to Connecting Vets.
“The only winners today are the schools that used their money and political influence to evade the law and harm veterans,” Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success, said in a statement. “The GI Bill statute specifically requires VA to protect student veterans, but the Trump Administration has chosen to defy that law. We do however appreciate the staff at Veterans Benefits Administration who tried to follow the law and protect student veterans.”
Read the full story by Connecting Vets, “VA lifts GI Bill suspensions for colleges accused of ‘deceptive’ enrollment practices” published July 6, 2020.