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 ADVOCACY LETTERS
Some of our legal advocacy letters can be shared publicly.
Letter to State AGs regarding the University of Phoenix
February 14, 2020 Dear Attorneys General: As you may have heard, on December 10, 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed settlement[1] with the University of Phoenix (UOP). In its investigation, the [...]
Our Letter to VA Regarding Ashford
We submitted a letter to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, providing key information about Ashford University.
36 Veteran and Military Organizations Ask VA for Better Oversight of GI Bill Colleges
A letter from 36 military and veteran organizations to the Secretary of VA, requesting a meeting and his attention to the Inspector General's finding that VA is wasting $2.3 billion in GI Bill to colleges [...]
Our Letter urging VA to follow the law on schools that defraud veterans
After multiple for-profit colleges have been caught defrauding veterans, the VA has still failed to act. We wrote a letter to the VA reminding the agency of its duty to protect veterans.
Our Letter to FTC Regarding Fake Military Recruiting Websites
28 Veterans and Military Leaders ask US Federal Trade Commission to release the names of the schools that participated in fake military recruiting websites Related letter to US Congressional Armed Services Committees [...]
Our Letter to FTC Regarding “Military Friendly” Schools
19 Veterans and Military service organizations' public comment on US Federal Trade Commission's proposed settlement with Victory Media's "Military Friendly Schools" Additional comments by Student Veterans of America Additional comments [...]
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 Letter to American InterContinental University System’s Accreditor | Apr. 2024
- Our Letter to Aviation Institute of Maintenance’s Accreditor | Jan. 2024
- Our Letter to Concorde Career College’s Accreditor | Jan. 2024
- Our Letter to IntelliTec’s Accreditor | Jan. 2024
- Our Letter to Lincoln Technical Institute’s Accreditor | Jan. 2024
- Our Letter to Remington College’s Accreditor | Jan. 2024
- Our Letter to Lincoln Technical Institute’s Accreditor | Oct. 2023
- Our Letter to Aviation Institute of Maintenance’s Accreditor | Oct. 2023
- 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:
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.
NY Daily News: DeVry University to pay $2.75M in deal with N.Y. attorney general for false ads on success of its graduates
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has reached a $2.75 million settlement with for-profit college DeVry University over misleading advertisements. Under the terms of the agreement revealed by Schneiderman on Monday, DeVry will pay $2.25 million [...]
Minnesota Attorney General announces court order awarding injunction, penalties, and restitution to students defrauded by Minnesota School of Business and Globe University
Attorney General Lori Swanson Obtains Court Order Awarding Injunction, Penalties, and Restitution for Minnesota School of Business and Globe University Fraudulently Misrepresenting the Job Opportunities Available to their Criminal Justice Graduates. On September 8, 2016, [...]
Federal Trade Commission Announces $100 Million Settlement with DeVry University for False Job Placement Claims
DeVry University and its parent company have agreed to a $100 million settlement of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging that they misled prospective students with ads that touted high employment success rates and income [...]
Kentucky Attorney General announces $1.2 million in restitution for students defrauded by Daymar College
FRANKFORT, KY. (Dec. 14, 2016) – Attorney General Andy Beshear today announced nearly 3,500 former students of Daymar College’s Kentucky campuses and online programs will this week begin receiving restitution checks totaling $1.2 million. The [...]
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Settlements Totaling $4.29 Million With For-Profit School And Its Former Chief Operating Officer
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Brian Hickey, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education (“USDOE”), Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Region (“OIG”), announced [...]
U.S. Investigates Bridgepoint Over Its Use of Federal Student Aid
Bridgepoint Education Inc., the for-profit owner of Ashford University, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over claims that it “may have misstated Title IV refund revenue or overstated revenue associated with private [...]
State Attorneys General Urge Greater Protections for Veterans Affected By Predatory For-Profit Schools
Dear Secretary McDonald: We, the undersigned Attorneys General, write to urge you to exercise the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (“VA’s”) authority under federal law to restore the educational and vocational rehabilitation benefits that thousands of [...]
FTC Files Suit Against DeVry University for Deceptive Recruiting
Defendant DeVry Education Group Inc. (DEG) is a publicly traded Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at 3005 Highland Parkway, Downers Grove, Illinois. DEG was formerly known as DeVry Inc. DEG transacts or [...]
UPI: For-profit college must pay $200M to forgive loans, pay settlement
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The for-profit college operator Education Management Corporation agreed to pay nearly $200 million to forgive student loans and resolve federal fraud claims in deals that have been lauded as "unprecedented" [...]