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 [...]

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 [...]

Schools Receiving the Most Post-9/11 GI Bill Tuition and Fee Payments Since 2009

This issue brief focuses on cumulative Post-9/11 payments to schools, not enrollment. Eight of the top 10 recipients of Post-9/11 tuition and fee payments from fiscal years (FY) 2009 through 2017 were for-profit schools. These 8 [...]

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 [...]

June 2020 Letter from Veterans Education Success 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:   [...]

Our Comment on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Collection of Education and Licensing Records

May 11, 2020 Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, DC 20420 Via electronic submission Re: Availability of Education, Licensing, and Certification Records, OMB Control No. 2900-0696 Dear Sir/Madam: Thank [...]

Joint Military & Veteran Service Organization Letter: Praising VA’s Effort to Protect Veterans and Taxpayers from Schools that Mislead Prospective Students

April 9, 2020 The Honorable Robert Wilkie U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20420 Dear Secretary Wilkie: Thank you for enforcing 38 U.S.C. § 3696, which is critical in stopping [...]

Thank You Letter to House Appropriations Committee for DOL VETS DVP Program

Below is a thank you letter from 17 veterans organizations to the House Appropriations Committee for including funding for the 2020 Department of Labor VETS program to establish a Disabled Veteran Program (DVP).   [...]

Joint Letter in Support of Shalala Amendment on DoD Tuition Assistance

On July 25, 2019, twenty-six student, education, military, and veterans service organizations expressed their support for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 that would require the Defense Department to make public [...]

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, [...]

Press Release: Veterans Education Success and The Century Foundation Release Toolkit for State Policymakers to Better Protect Veterans & Military-Connected Students in Higher Education

For Immediate Release              Contact:  Carrie Wofford, President, and Ramond Curtis, State Policy Manager, Veterans Education Success (202) 838-5050 Alex Edwards, Director of Communications, The Century Foundation, edwards@tcf.org, (810) 986-0880 May 29, 2020 Veterans Education [...]

VA’s Revised Guidance to Schools on Correcting Violations of 38 USC 3696

On May 26, 2020, VA sent revised guidance to schools at risk of losing eligibility to enroll GI Bill students due to deceptive and misleading advertising and recruiting, in violation of 38 USC 3696.  This [...]

Politico Morning Education: It’s just not going to look like any other school year

COULD VETERANS BE BLOCKED FROM CARES ACT GRANTS? Veterans Education Success says it’s possible. — “At issue is which students are eligible for the cash grants,” the group, which focuses on student veterans, argues in a new brief. Education [...]

Supporting Veterans with Disabilities Pursuing a Postsecondary Education

Supporting Veterans with Disabilities Pursuing a Postsecondary Education By:  Walter Ochinko May 2020 This week we published a new report on the impact of disability on first-time student veterans’ pursuit of a postsecondary credential. Our [...]

VA’s Guidance to Schools on Correcting Violations of 38 USC 3696

On May 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent guidance to 5 schools at risk of losing eligibility to enroll GI Bill students because of 38 USC 3696, which prohibits VA from approving [...]