Veterans Education Success publishes non-partisan research on student outcomes and higher education policy issues
QUALITY OF EDUCATION & STUDENT OUTCOMES
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY & STUDENT PROTECTIONS
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 [...]
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 [...]
Election 2020: Policy Memo for Candidates: Supporting Military-Connected Students in Higher Education
Election 2020: Policy Memo for Candidates: Supporting Military-Connected Students in Higher Education Read the report and visit our webpage here: https://vetsedsuccess.org/election-2020-policy-memo-for-candidates-supporting-military-connected-students-in-higher-education/
2020 Toolkit for State Policymakers
Visit the website page here: https://vetsedsuccess.org/2020-toolkit-state-policymakers/
Are Student Veterans Going to be Denied Access to CARES Act Emergency Relief Funds?
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized more than $6 billion in emergency cash grants “to students” enrolled in campus-based postsecondary education, to be distributed by their colleges. On April 9, 2020, [...]
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 [...]
GI BILL & MILITARY EDUCATION BENEFITS
GI Bill Payments and Enrollment, Fiscal Years 2009 to 2018
Total GI Bill payments and enrollment grew significantly after the implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefits in August 2009. Eighty three percent of the $105 billion in expenditures on educational benefits from Fiscal [...]
VA and SAA Approval and Disapproval Authority Should Be Clarified
Executive Summary State Approving Agencies (SAAs) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are expected to work in tandem to approve, disapprove, and oversee the educational benefits provided under 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) [...]
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 [...]
Large For-Profit Schools Remain Dependent on Recruiting GI Bill Students Despite Overall Enrollment Declines
For several years, the media has reported on the decline in for- profit schools’ student enrollment. Missing in these articles are data on a key subset of students who are specifically targeted by for-profits—GI Bill [...]
For-Profit Schools’ Post-9/11 GI Bill Revenue and Enrollment Declined from 2014 to 2016
In this brief, we report separately on total GI Bill enrollment and enrollment for only the Post-9/11 benefit. Post-9/11 revenue includes tuition payments for qualifying GI Bill students through the Yellow Ribbon program under which [...]
Schools Receiving the Most Post-9/11 GI Bill Tuition and Fee Payments Since 2009
This issue brief focuses on cumulative Post-9/11 payments to schools, not enrollment. Eight of the top 10 recipients of Post-9/11 tuition and fee payments from fiscal years (FY) 2009 through 2017 were for-profit schools. These 8 [...]
OUR FACT SHEETS
Short fact sheets on key issues.
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 for over two decades. The Rule was clarified in late 2016 in the wake of the [...]
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 gainful employment in a recognized occupation." The rule applies to specific programs within a school, but [...]
OUR LEGAL REPORTS
Veterans Education Success prepares legal analysis and trends in veteran student complaints.
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 its school assets to Gazelle University, a nonprofit that immediately changed its name to Grand [...]
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 Arizona Global Campus. In exchange, Ashford paid the University of Arizona $37.5 million in upfront [...]
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 they had violated Title 38 § 3696, which prohibits payments to schools that engage in [...]
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 to our attention their complaints about ITT Technical Institute. Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about [...]
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 veteran and servicemember complaints about Colorado Technical University. We analyzed those complaints for trends, and [...]
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 veteran and servicemember complaints about Ashford University. We analyzed those complaints for trends, and found: [...]
ISSUES
Policy issues of Veterans Education Success
Veterans Education Success works to improve post-secondary quality and student outcomes to ensure military-connected students enjoy a solid education leading to a successful civilian career. You will find research reports and coalition letters related to college quality and student outcomes.
Veterans Education Success seeks to ensure students have adequate protections and rights and also believes bad actor colleges should be held accountable if they’ve trampled on students’ rights. You will find research reports and coalition letters related to student protections and college accountability.
Vterans Education Success works to protect the GI Bill and other federal education benefits.