GI Bill & Other Education Benefits

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 [...]

Investigative Analysis: Advertising by For-Profit and Other Schools in Response to COVID-19

Statement by Veterans Education Success (August 5, 2020) - "Veterans Education Success regrets to inform you that this report has been removed. Although we are confident in our findings about the number of ads that [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

SAS Global Forum 2020 Report: Post-9/11 GI Bill: Teasing Out Insights about Veterans’ Success in Postsecondary Education

By Walter Ochinko, Research Director, Veterans Education Success Abstract This paper (1) examines the challenges researchers face in using publicly available databases to track veterans use of GI Bill benefits and their success in earning [...]

The 85-15 Rule and Related GI Bill Safeguards

The impact of the 85-15 rule—a requirement that education programs enroll at least 15% non-veterans to ensure schools are not bilking VA, as occurred after WWII—has evolved over time. This Issue Brief presents the Congressional [...]

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 [...]

Learn about the Protect the GI Bill Act

Overview of The Protect the GI Bill Act Gives Student Veterans the Same Rights as Other Students Contained within the larger Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement [...]

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 [...]

Veterans Education Success Celebrates Landmark Law Protecting the GI Bill

Veterans Education Success Celebrates Landmark Law to Protect Student Veterans and Ensure Better Oversight of GI Bill Colleges January 5, 2021 For Immediate Release Contact:  Carrie Wofford: carrie@vetsedsuccess.org Veterans Education Success celebrates landmark legislation to [...]

Veterans Education Success Hails Unanimous Passage of Landmark Legislation to Protect Student Veterans and Ensure Better Oversight of GI Bill Colleges

December 16, 2020 For Immediate Release Contact:  Carrie Wofford: carrie@vetsedsuccess.org Veterans Education Success hails unanimous passage of landmark legislation to protect student veterans and ensure better oversight of GI Bill colleges Veterans Education Success proposed, [...]

Our Written Testimony for the House Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Hearing on 2021 Legislative Priorities

TESTIMONY OF TANYA ANG, VICE PRESIDENT CONGRESSIONAL AND ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT CONGRESS SUBMITTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 8, 2020 Chairman Levin, Ranking [...]

Our Letter to VA and Georgia SAA Regarding House of Prayer Christian Church

In August 2020, we asked the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Georgia State Approving Agency to investigate alleged abuses of the GI Bill program by House of Prayer Christian Church's bible seminaries. To protect [...]

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 [...]

Our Statement for the Record: September 16 House Veterans Affairs Joint Subcommittee Hearing on Modernizing VA’s Education Services IT

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING ON MOVING BEYOND PATCHWORK SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION SERVICES IT SUBMITTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEES ON TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES [...]

Our Statement for the Record: August 28 House Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Hearing on Coordinating Transition Resources

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING ON COORDINATING TRANSITION RESOURCES SUBMITTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 28, 2020 Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Bilirakis, and Members [...]

Our Statement for the Record for House Veterans Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Hearing: “Getting Veterans to Work after COVID-19”

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING ON GETTING VETERANS TO WORK AFTER COVID-19 SUBMITTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 21, 2020 Chairman Levin, Ranking Member [...]

Our Letter to VA’s Veterans Advisory Committee on Education

Click here to download a PDF of the letter.  Department of Veterans Affairs Education Services 810 Vermont Avenue Washington DC 20420 Via electronic submission to EDUSTAENG.VBAVACO@va.gov Re: Advisory Committee on Education Dear Members of the [...]

Our Comment to VA on the Collection of Reports and Notices from State Approving Agencies

June 22, 2020 Nancy J. Kessinger Veterans Benefits Administration Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C., 20420   Dear Ms. Kessinger: I am writing to provide comments on the Department of Veterans [...]

Our Letter to the VA Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Readjustment

Our letter to the VA Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans   June 11, 2020   Department of Veterans Affairs Readjustment Counseling Service (10RCS) 810 Vermont Avenue Washington DC 20420 Via electronic submission to [...]

Comment on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Principles of Excellence Complaint System Intake

June 2, 2020 Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC 20420 Via electronic submission Re: Principles of Excellence Complaint System Intake, OMB Control No. 2900-0797   Dear Sir/Madam:   [...]

NBC-9 KTSM: U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar’s Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative Act approved

The bill passed through Congress, gaining bipartisan support and endorsement from Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans Education Success and Student Veterans of America. It passed through the House of Representatives with a 400-1 vote. See [...]

Military Times: Women Veterans, Students Would See Expanded Services and Benefits Under New Law

After a lengthy wait, President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law a sweeping veterans policy measure that includes new protections for women veterans, student veterans and individuals struggling with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.... The [...]

Marine Times: Congress finalizes sweeping veterans policy bill with new protections for women, students

“This landmark legislation will significantly weed out predatory colleges that seek to take advantage of veterans,” said Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success. She praised lawmakers for “stepping up to protect veterans and their [...]

Stars & Stripes: Congress passes sweeping end-of-year bill impacting ‘every corner’ of the veteran community

WASHINGTON — Congress approved a bill Wednesday that increases resources for homeless veterans, creates a Department of Veterans Affairs advisory committee for Native American veterans and mandates that every VA hospital hire a dedicated women’s [...]

Inside Higher Ed: Veterans Group Hails Passage of Bill Protecting Students

“This landmark legislation will significantly weed out predatory colleges that seek to take advantage of veterans,” Carrie Wofford, president of the advocacy group Veterans Education Success, said in a statement. Read the full story at [...]

Stars & Stripes: VA has lost GIBill.com rights, and some worry it could prompt scammers to target student vets

Some lawmakers and advocates are urging the VA to get the website back because they are worried the status of the site could prompt a group to try again to take advantage of student veterans. [...]

Our Press Release Condemning the Trump Administration’s Decision to Give Deceptive Colleges a Free Pass

July 2, 2020 WASHINGTON, DC – Veterans Education Success condemns the Trump Administration’s decision today to ignore federal law in order to protect predatory colleges, when it notified 5 schools at risk of losing eligibility [...]

VA’s Resolution of 3696 Violations by 5 schools

On July 2, 2020, VA notified 5 schools at risk of losing eligibility to enroll GI Bill students over deceptive recruiting that their prior resolutions with federal and state law enforcement would suffice, rendering 38 [...]

Washington Post: VA backs down from plan to suspend University of Phoenix and other colleges from accessing GI Bill benefits

VA backs down from plan to suspend University of Phoenix and other colleges from accessing GI Bill benefits “The only winners today are the schools that used their money and political influence to evade the [...]

Stars & Stripes: VA Allows Penalized For-Profit Schools to Enroll GI Bill Students; Advocates Say Move Breaks the Law

VA Allows Penalized For-Profit Schools to Enroll GI Bill Students; Advocates Say Move Breaks the Law Veterans Education Success, a veterans’ advocacy group in Washington, says the VA move violates a federal law that forbids [...]

Letter from Chairman Takano supporting interagency research on GI Bill outcomes

The Capital Forum: VA Letter Gives Company Additional 30 Days to Provide Information Before Making a Determination Whether to Disapprove Enrollment of GI Bill Beneficiaries

"Walter Ochinko, Research Director at Veterans Education Success, was skeptical of the company's claims. 'In court documents, Perdoceo promised that it would cease deceptive recruiting and false certifications yet it was caught again and again, [...]