Good afternoon. My name is Toma Bartlett, and I wanted to start off by stating how honored I am to be recognized as an advocate for our Veterans. I am a 12 year Coast Guard Veteran, and I am also one of the 10’s of thousands of Veterans or Dependents that were grossly misled by For Profit Universities.
The University of Phoenix (UOP) used misleading and false information to recruit, retain, and absorb as much financial gain from me as possible. In addition to using my entire GI Bill, I was also prompted to take out additional financing to “help support my family” while I was attending school. In the end, I spent more than $72,000 and held a degree that was rendered useless in the job market.
Additionally, I was promised two things:
- Guaranteed Job Placement
- Mid-Level Management Position
The UOP, along with numerous other For-Profits, had and continues to have a poor reputation as a quality leader in education. Of all the classes I attended, there was only one class that challenged me and I was forced to open a book. For all the others, mere on-line posts and meaningless team written papers were adequate enough to receive a 3.80 GPA. More often than not, the team participation meant that only 1 or 2 students in a group would actually participate, while the others lacked any meaningful feedback or contribution. When these issues were brought forward to the facilitator, they were dismissive and failed to hold others accountable.
I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Health Care Administration, but I didn’t get any benefit from my degree. It has taken me more than 12 years since receiving my degree to finally be relieved of my student debt (Borrowers Defense and Sweet Settlement). My wife, Dr. Nicole Bartlett, and I have been successful in building our own private mental health practices, of which, we are able to serve a large Veteran population. Many of these Veterans suffer from depression, and a common denominator leading to depression, is financial uncertainty.
Just imagine being an energetic and driven member of the military and wanting to receive a higher education because you want to better yourself and provide for your family. And in the end, dig yourself deeper in debt, have a meaningless degree, and have to settle for a mediocre job just to get by. How can that not send a Veteran into a downward spiral of depression? Although there is no exact number of Veterans who commit suicide solely based on financial hardships, I know firsthand that it is real, it is not well addressed, and just shouldn’t happen.
Veterans deserve affordable repayment options when they repay their student loans, especially when their degrees do not lead to jobs and salaries that allow them to repay those loans. They also deserve better oversight and accountability. It is my fear that as the Department of Education and Department of Veterans Affairs continues to be dismantled, that all the work that I’ve done along with the support of Veterans Ed Success, and many others will fade away.
Our Veterans matter! And when veterans are defrauded by their schools, they deserve to get their loans forgiven and have their GI Bill made whole.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my comments today.
Toma Bartlett Remarks 5.1.25