We’ve provided free help to more than 5,000 veterans and servicemembers – and many corporate whistleblowers. Sometimes we win through negotiations, such as when we helped veterans at Stanford University get their full housing allowance, and sometimes we win through legal action. We also help law enforcement with information and victim and whistleblower connections. Most of our work is private and confidential, but here you can see our public filings.
Free help with your GI Bill and student rights is available at [email protected].
OUR LEGAL REPORTS AND MEMOS
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Perdoceo Education Corporation
I. Introduction This memo analyzes and provides representative examples of over 500 complaints from military-connected students who attended schools owned by the Perdoceo Education Corporation, formerly known as the Career Education Corporation and referred to [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
OUR LEGAL ADVOCACY LETTERS
Some of our legal advocacy letters can be shared publicly.
Our Letter to VA Regarding Additional Information about ASA College
February 28, 2023 William Clarke, Veterans Program Manager Bureau of Veterans Education New York State Division of Veterans’ Services Via email Joseph L. Garcia, Executive Director Education Service Veteran Benefits Administration Via email Re: ASA [...]
Our Letter to VA with Additional Information Regarding Bay State College
January 9, 2023, George O’Connor Assistant Commissioner for Academic & Veterans Affairs Department of Higher Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts Via email Joseph L. Garcia, Executive Director Education Service. Veteran Benefits Administration Via email Re: Bay State College Dear Mr. O’Connor and Mr. Garcia...
VA FOIA Request Response RE: SAA requests for waivers of 38 USC 3683
VA's Agency Decision to VES' September 14, 2022, request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, submitted to the Veterans Benefits Administration Central Office (VBACO) FOIA Office, for access to records regarding information on whether any current State Approving Agencies employees have requested, received, or been denied a waiver under Sec. 3683, which prohibits SAA employees from receiving wages, salaries, gifts, profits, dividends, or services from a for-profit school.
Letter to VA Regarding Bay State College
November 21, 2022 George O’Connor, Assistant Commissioner for Academic & Veterans Affairs Department of Higher Education Commonwealth of Massachusetts Via email Joshua Jacobs, Senior Advisor for Policy Performing the Delegable Duties of the Under Secretary [...]
Letter to VA Regarding Florida Career College
November 21, 2022 Betsy Wickham, Bureau Chief State Approving Agency Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs Via email David Salgado, Director Veterans Education Program Texas Veterans Commission Via email Joshua Jacobs, Senior Advisor for Policy Performing [...]
Letter to VA Regarding Full Sail University
November 21, 2022 Betsy Wickham, Bureau Chief State Approving Agency Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs Via email Joshua Jacobs, Senior Advisor for Policy Performing the Delegable Duties of the Under Secretary for Benefits Veterans Benefits [...]
OUR COURT FILINGS
Our court filings to protect veterans, servicemembers, and military families.
Our Amicus Brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit re GI Bill Benefits for Multiple Periods of Service
Veterans Education Success filed an amicus brief supporting that where a veteran has multiple periods of service, the veteran may qualify for both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The case [...]
Public Service Loan Forgiveness – Montana Supreme Court Decision
We filed an amicus brief about the importance to veterans of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, in a case about whether students can use state law to sue student loan servicing companies that fail to comply [...]
OUR SUBMISSIONS TO ACCREDITORS
Our legal team provides submissions to college accreditors, documenting our findings about specific colleges, including our research findings, student veteran complaints, and whistleblower concerns.
- Our Third Party Comment to Higher Learning Commission regarding University of Phoenix | Nov. 2018
- Our memo outlining HLC’s standards and the ways UOP has violated those standards
- Yale Law School memo describing hundreds of student veteran complaints received by VES
- Affidavit from Veterans Education Success President Wofford regarding the concerns expressed by, and documents received from, four UOP whistleblowers
- Letter from a UOP whistleblower sharing concerns
- Our Third Party Comment to WASC Senior College and University Commission regarding Ashford University | Dec. 20, 2017
- Our Submission of Additional Information to Ashford’s Accreditor| Feb. 22, 2018
OUR LEGAL BRIEFS
We serve as a solo amicus in a case regarding the rights of whistleblowers under the federal False Claims Act:
- Court recognition of Veterans Education Success’ amicus curiae filing (Oct. 2017) (here)
- Stephens Institute’s Reply Brief (Sept. 2017) (here)
- Motion for permission to file amicus brief (Aug. 9, 2017) (here)
- Amicus brief filed with the 9th Circuit (Aug. 7, 2017) (here)
We won two amicus cases to protect students’ rights to sue loan servicing companies that fail to comply with Public Service Loan Forgiveness – which is important to veterans and servicemembers and to recruiting and retention by the U.S. military, Veterans Affairs Department, and veterans organizations.
- Our brief in Reavis v. PHEAA (Dec. 16, 2019) (here). On July 14 ,2020, the Montana Supreme Court agreed with us! (here)
- Our brief in Lawson-Ross v. Great Lakes Higher Education Corp. (Dec. 10, 2018) (here). On April 10, 2020, the 11th Circuit Court agreed with us! (here)
We helped ITT Tech and Corinthian students, working closely with several hundred individuals to file claims with the Court.
We also supported lawyers at Harvard Law School’s Project on Predatory Student Lending, who represent a class of all 750,000 former ITT Tech students (including veterans) who attended in the last 10 years:
- ITT Class Action Settlement: US Court awards financial recompense to ITT students (Jan. 2018) (here). Students win $168 million in student debt cancellation (June 2019) (here)
- ITT Tech Student Class Complaint (Jan. 2017) (here)
- Veterans Education Success President Carrie Wofford’s Affidavit (here)
- US Securities & Exchange Commission rejects settlement terms for ITT Tech Executives who defrauded investors (Aug. 2017) (here)
We’ve joined several amici curiae briefs regarding the Gainful Employment rule at the US Department of Education that weeds out poor performing career college programs:
OUR FOIA REQUESTS
We file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to government agencies to help expose important facts to protect veterans, servicemembers, and military families.
FOIA response from VA regarding GI Bill payments to the Art Institute of Colorado
Veterans Education Success sent a FOIA request to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), seeking the number of students using VA funding and enrolled at the Art Institute of Colorado between November 2017 and [...]
FOIA response from VA regarding the Department’s communications with Moskowitz, Perlmutter, and Sherman
The US Department of Veterans Affairs sent the following response to our Freedom of Information Act request regarding the Department's communications with Bruce Moskowitz, Ike Perlmutter, and Marc Sherman.
FOIA request to VA regarding the Department’s communications with Moskowitz, Perlmutter, and Sherman
1250 H Street NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 January 7, 2020 Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue, NW (005R1C) VACO Washington, DC 20420 Via email: [email protected] This is a request [...]
FOIA response from VA regarding the Department’s communications with University of Phoenix
The US Department of Veterans Affairs sent the following response to our Freedom of Information Act request regarding the Department's communications with the University of Phoenix, Apollo Global Management, or The Vistria Group. [...]
FOIA request to VA regarding the Department’s communications with University of Phoenix
1250 H Street NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 January 7, 2020 Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue, NW (005R1C) VACO Washington, DC 20420 Via email: [email protected] This is a request [...]
LAW ENFORCEMENT NEWS
Veterans Education Success works with federal and state law enforcement to protect the rights of veterans, service-members, military family members and survivors.
Sixth defendant in scuba fraud investigation admits filing false claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, November 14, 2022 Sixth defendant in scuba fraud investigation admits filing false claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs Dive school official caused more [...]
Justice Department Announces Enforcement Action Involving Over $100 Million in Losses to Department of Veterans Affairs
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, September 16, 2022 Justice Department Announces Enforcement Action Involving Over $100 Million in Losses to Department of Veterans Affairs The Department of Justice announced [...]
Department of Justice: Universal Helicopters Inc. and Dodge City Community College Agree to Pay $7.5 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Related to Post-9/11 GI Bill Funding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, August 15, 2022 Universal Helicopters Inc. and Dodge City Community College Agree to Pay $7.5 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Related to Post-9/11 GI Bill Funding Universal Helicopters Inc. [...]
CBS News: Lender charged 200% interest to military families for pawn loans, CFPB says
U.S. military families are being socked with annual interest rates sometimes exceeding 200% on pawn loans they've taken out from a Texas company, a violation of a federal law that caps how much lenders can [...]
Military Times: Feds Threaten Big Fines Against For-Profits Schools That Dupe Troops, Veterans
“Up until today, veterans and service members have been seen as a gravy train for some of the worst schools in America, exploiting grandiose marketing schemes and even outright lies to keep investors happy,” said [...]
Minnesota’s Attorney General’s Office: Former MSB/Globe Students to Finally Receive Nearly $24M in Debt Forgiveness, $16M in Restitution for Fraud
"Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that $23.6 million in debt relief has now finally been approved for former students of Minnesota School of Business (MSB) and Globe University (Globe) and that $15.8 million [...]
Massachusetts Attorney General Secures Nearly $300,000 for Students of Online For-profit School
For Immediate Release July 2, 2021 AG HEALEY SECURES NEARLY $300,000 FOR STUDENTS OF ONLINE FOR-PROFIT SCHOOL Settlement Provides Payments for Certain Former Ashford University Students and Resolves Allegations that School Charged Excessive Fees and [...]
Inside Higher Ed: Department of Education Cancels Loans for ITT Tech Students
"Carrie Wofford, the president of Veterans Education Success -- an advocacy group that provided evidence to the department to aid in its decision -- applauded its decision in a release. “'So many veterans came to [...]
Washington Post: Biden Administration Delivers Debt Relief to Some Former ITT Tech Students
“The Education Department said that evidence, along with findings from advocacy group Veterans Education Success, serves as the basis for the approvals. "'So many veterans came to us about how ITT Tech cheated them,' said [...]