We have provided free legal advice and advocacy to nearly 5,000 veterans and servicemembers – and to more than a dozen corporate whistleblowers. We also support law enforcement, providing key information and victim and whistleblower connections. Most of that work is private and confidential.
Sometimes we win through negotiations, such as when we helped veterans at Stanford University get their full housing allowance. Sometimes we win through legal action to protect the rights of our students.
Although we cannot share confidential legal information, we can share our public filings, including our legal reports, submissions to college accreditors, FOIA requests, and court filings.
If you are active duty, veteran, or a military family member and having issues with your education benefits, contact us for free help now.
OUR LEGAL REPORTS AND MEMOS
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 [...]
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Colorado Technical University
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Colorado Technical University February 2020 As part of our free legal assistance to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as the GI [...]
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Ashford University
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Ashford University February 2020 As part of our free legal assistance to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as the GI Bill, [...]
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about American InterContinental University
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about American InterContinental University February 2020 As part of the free legal assistance we provide to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as [...]
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about University of Phoenix
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about University of Phoenix February 2020 As part of the free legal assistance we provide to students, Veterans Education Success receives complaints from students using veterans’ benefits, such as [...]
Law Enforcement Actions Against Predatory Colleges
This document summarizes government actions against predatory colleges, providing links to the government actions. Law Enforcement Actions Against Predatory Colleges (updated December 2019) ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY, SAN FRANCISCO City Attorney of San Francisco [...]
Army.com List of Partner Schools Exposed
The Federal Trade Commission shut down a number of copycat military websites in September of 2018. This report examines one of those websites, Army.com, and the list of partner schools it displayed while in operation. [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at Trident University
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 [...]
Piercing the Veil of Covert For-Profit Colleges
Recent efforts by certain predatory for-profit colleges to convert to nonprofit status1 raises the question of whether the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can continue to exercise jurisdiction over those entities’ misleading and deceptive recruiting [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at Ashford University
In 2017, we conducted a review of the complaints we have received from veterans and servicemembers who have attended Ashford, as part of our free legal services for veterans and servicemembers. What follows is a [...]
Harvard Law School Report: Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at Kaplan Schools
In 2017, Veterans Education Success contracted with Harvard Law School's Project on Predatory Lending to analyze complaints against Kaplan brought to Veterans Education Success by student veterans. For-profit schools have garnered significant attention for their [...]
Veterans with Pending Borrower Defense Applications at the Education Department
"I have a so-called degree from ITT Tech and found that most employers laugh at it. During my time there I had accrued a fair amount of debt from this fraudulent school and am having [...]
Yale Law School Report: Student Veteran Complaints Alleging Illegal Practices at University of Phoenix
In 2016 and 2017, Veterans Education Success contracted with Yale Law School's Veterans Legal Clinic to analyze complaints against the University of Phoenix (UOP) brought to Veterans Education Success by student veterans. UOP is a [...]
Yale Law School Report: Student Veteran Complaints Alleging Illegal Practices at Colorado Technical University
In 2016 and 2017, Veterans Education Success contracted with Yale Law School's Veterans Legal Clinic to analyze complaints about Colorado Technical University (CTU) brought to Veterans Education Success by student veterans and military students. What [...]
Misleading Websites and “Lead Generators”: A Case Study: Victory Media’s “Military Friendly Schools”
Too often, veterans and servicemembers are misled and deceived by websites and “lead generators” that steer the veterans and servicemembers to colleges that pay the websites, as part of a grand scheme by the [...]
Veteran and Servicemember Complaints about Misconduct and Illegal Practices at DeVry University
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 [...]
Trends in Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about ITT Technical Institute
What follows is a public version of a “trends analysis” document Veterans Education Success prepared detailing the types of harm observed by us in our work providing free legal services to service members, veterans, and [...]
Yale Law School: VA’s Failure to Protect Veterans from Deceptive College Recruiting Practices
In 2015 and 2016, Veterans Education Success contracted with Yale Law School's Veterans Legal Clinic to analyze VA's failure to adhere to a federal statute. This analysis proceeds in two parts. First, it explains the [...]
OUR LEGAL ADVOCACY LETTERS
Some of our legal advocacy letters can be shared publicly.
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
Veterans Education Success serves 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)
Veterans Education Success has filed amicus briefs to protect Public Service Loan Forgiveness – which is important to veterans and servicemembers and to recruiting and retention by VA, the Armed Forces, and veterans organizations – and to oppose loan servicers’ active misrepresentations to students about Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
- Reavis v. PHEAA (here)
- Lawson-Ross v. Great Lakes Higher Education Corp. (Dec. 10, 2018) (here). In April 2020, the 11th Circuit Court agreed with us! (here)
Veterans Education Success 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)
Veterans Education Success has joined multiple amici curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs to protect the rights of students, including:
OUR COURT FILINGS
Our court filings to protect veterans, servicemembers, and military families.
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.
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.
Colorado Attorney General Announces $4.5 Million Settlement with Westwood College to Address Deceptive Business Practices
DENVER — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today the state has reached an agreement with Westwood College, Inc. to address allegations that the institution violated the Consumer Protection Act by misleading prospective students, engaging [...]