MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Ana Cobian, ana.cobian@wardcirclestrategies.com, 323-360-1827

Arizona Army Veteran/Purple Heart Recipient Left
With a Useless Degree & Wasted G.I. Benefits
After Attending Government-Approved Sham School

Army Veteran to Testify at Federal Virtual Hearing Thursday, 8/7:

Veteran to Dept. Of Ed: Gutting Education Department Oversight Puts Student Veterans at Risk & Predatory Colleges Will Thrive If Oversight Is Dismantled—Veterans Will Have Nowhere to Turn

Register to Virtual Public Hearing | U.S. Department of Education

Thurs, 8.7, 11:06 AM EDT; (Testimony and video recording)

WHO:

U.S. Army veteran Mikeal Swenson from Fort Mojave, a Purple Heart recipient who served 6.5 years and completed two tours in Afghanistan, will testify before the U.S. Department of Education to expose how Full Sail University misled him with false promises, wasted his GI Bill benefits, and left him forced to start over in his 30s. He now attends Arizona State University, studying electrical engineering.

“I am concerned that cuts to the Department of Education will rob it of its ability to help students like me who have been taken advantage of. I am sharing my experience in the hopes that something like this will not happen to anyone else, and I think that there should continue to be help available for people like me.” — Mikeal Swenson

WHAT:

Veteran testimony before the Department of Education’s virtual public hearing on proposed changes to student loan and higher education accountability rules.

Swenson will share how a recruiter used his own military history to gain his trust and assured him that Full Sail would connect him with employers and prepare him for a music production career. Instead, he received a low-quality education with unqualified instructors, non-transferable credits, and no path to employment. His story illustrates the devastating impact of predatory recruiting and poor program quality, particularly on veterans, who have historically been targeted for their GI Bill by predatory for-profit colleges.

Swenson now attends Arizona State University, but warns that cuts to the Department of Education’s oversight teams will leave other veterans vulnerable to similar abuses.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Thousands of veterans have fallen victim to predatory schools that promise high-quality degrees, only to deliver debt and disappointment. As part of a dramatic downsizing, the Department of Education is now laying off the oversight teams that helped protect student veterans and hold bad actors accountable.

Without them, future veterans may be scammed out of their GI Bill benefits by sham schools and have no recourse to fight back.

  • Full Sail’s music production program reportedly had only an 11% graduation rate.
  • Veterans’ personal stories expose a systemic failure to prevent institutions from using taxpayer funds for shams.
  • The federal government funds schools that leave veterans with useless degrees and crushing debt.
  • No accountability on either end:
    • Front-end: lax oversight allows predatory schools to flourish
    • Back-end: no reliable recourse once students are defrauded
  • Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and the government collects them aggressively.
  • The system continues to stigmatize victims rather than the institutions that defrauded them.

About Negotiated Rulemaking: The Department is required to solicit public input on changes to federal regulations governing colleges and students’ rights and obligations, and must form a “negotiated rulemaking” committee that includes representatives of interested parties who are significantly affected by any regulatory changes. Two committees are planned: Fall 2025: Focus on student loans and repayment; and Early 2026: Focus on accountability, gatekeeping, and institutional eligibility.

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

  • Mikael Swenson is available for interviews following his testimony.
  • Barmak Nassirian, Vice President for Higher Education Policy, Veterans Education Success, is available on background to provide expert context on the Department of Education’s regulations and proposed regulatory changes. A nationally-regarded higher education policy expert, he formerly served on the rulemaking committees in 2013, 2022, and 2024.

###

Veterans Education Success is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to work on a bipartisan basis to advance higher education success for veterans, service members, and military families and to protect the integrity and promise of the GI Bill and other federal postsecondary education programs. The organization offers free help, advice, and college and career counseling to veterans using the GI Bill and helps them participate in their democracy by engaging with policymakers. Veterans Education Success also provides non-partisan policy expertise to federal and state policymakers and conducts non-partisan research on issues of concern to student veterans. Additional information is available at vetsedsuccess.org.

VES Mikeal Swenson MEDIA ADVISORY