GI Bill & Other Education Benefits

The 85-15 Rule and Related GI Bill Safeguards

The impact of the 85-15 rule—a cap on the percentage of veterans allowed to enroll in an approved course—has evolved over time. This Issue Brief presents the Congressional history, summarizes the Supreme Court decision upholding [...]

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

We undertook a first-ever review of all statutes and regulations governing GI Bill college approval and disapproval and found significant inconsistencies and ambiguity. Historically, both SAAs and VA have had approval and disapproval authorities. In [...]

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 [...]

Repayment Status for First-Time Student Veterans 12 Years After Enrolling

Drawing on the National Center for Education Statistics' First Look report on Student Loan Debt, Repayment and Default, this Issue Brief highlights key findings on veteran student loan debt.

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 will close the 90/10 loophole for DoD's Tuition [...]

Protecting Servicemember Loan Rates

Military and veteran groups wrote to the Department of Defense thanking them for automating SCRA rights and asking for restitution to servicemembers who previously were not accorded to these rights that they were entitled to. [...]

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. VES wrote a letter to the VA reminding the agency of its duty to protect veterans.

Free Credit Monitoring for Servicemembers

VES and other veterans and military service organizations write to US Federal Trade Commission regarding free credit monitoring for servicemembers

DOL Urged to Exercise Caution With Apprenticeship Programs

Letter urging the US Department of Labor to ensure adequate quality controls in apprenticeship programs approved for GI Bill

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 [...]

Veterans Organizations Call for Automatic Loan Forgiveness for Disabled Veterans

A letter to the Department of Education requesting automatic loan forgiveness for disabled veterans.

Career-Ready Student Veterans Act

Veterans and Military Organizations Write VA to Fix Delays in GI Bill Payments

As an IT issue wreaked havoc on GI Bill payments, 15 veteran and military organizations wrote a letter urging VA Secretary Wilkie to find a prompt solution.

CFPB and DoD: Protect Servicemembers’ Rights

38 veterans and military service organizations call on the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and US Defense Department to stop the rollback of servicemembers' rights under the Military Lending Act   Resubmitted Sept. [...]

U.S. Navy position paper opposing “PROSPER” Act

The US Navy issued a position paper opposing the House PROSPER Act, which would curtail Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which the Navy relies upon for military recruiting and retention.

Dallas News: Hundreds of veterans scramble after Garland for-profit college closes

GARLAND — Hundreds of veterans are scrambling to figure out what’s next for them after a for-profit college they were attending suddenly shut down Wednesday. The Texas Veterans Commission issued a news release Thursday evening [...]

HR 4625: Protect the GI Bill Act

We are grateful to the bipartisan leadership of House Veterans Affairs Committee for this joint bill that would: Require risk-based oversight (and allow for disapprovals if needed) of schools under the Education Department's "Heightened Cash [...]

Joint Press Release: Veterans & Military Service Organizations Response to Sen. Alexander’s Higher Education Legislation

September 26, 2019 (Updated October 7, 2019) For Immediate Release Contact: Tanya Ang | Vice President | (949) 244-7690 Lauren Augustine | Vice President of Government Relations (SVA) | (703) 772-9919 Barrett Y. Bogue | [...]

Sacramento Bee: Veterans Affairs Moves to Strip California’s Power in Fight Over For-Profit Schools

“It’s hard to argue that the VA has the interests of veterans and taxpayers at heart when it allows things like Thomas Jefferson. Why would they rescind these actions?” said Walter Ochinko, research director for [...]

Our Oral Testimony on VA’s Debt Collection & GI Bill Overpayments

On Sept. 19, 2019, Veterans Education Success' Director of Military & Consumer Policy, Mike Saunders, testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, regarding GI Bill "overpayments" and VA's aggressive debt [...]

Politico Morning Education: Veterans Education Success is Out with Two Reports

Veterans Education Success this week released two new reports about federal and state oversight of colleges receiving GI Bill funding: "Overemphasis on Payment Accuracy Impedes More Effective SAA Oversight of Schools Participating in the GI Bill" [...]

Veterans Education Success releases 2 new reports on VA’s oversight of the GI Bill

VES released 2 new reports:  VA’s increased Tasking of SAAs with Payment Audits is Impeding Quality Oversight of Schools; and Inconsistent Governing Statutes are Fueling Disagreements Between VA and the States Reports Shed Light on [...]

House Veterans Chairman Takano’s statement on VA’s suspension of California SAA

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) released the following statement after the Department of Veterans’ Affairs decided to break with the California State Approving Agency for Veterans Education [...]

Diverse Issues in Higher Education: Proposed Amendment Scrutinizes For-Profit Schools Targeting Veterans

The 90/10 rule is supposed to be a “market test,” says Tanya Ang, policy and outreach director at Veterans Education Success, because a reputable school should be able to attract some non-government funds. For example, [...]

VA’s FOIA response re FTC referral for investigation of deceptive practices

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released the following documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the New York Legal Assistance Group to VA requesting documents related to any VA [...]

Press Release: We Respond to VA’s Decision to Suspend California’s Role as a State Approving Agency for GI Bill

September 6, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:  CARRIE WOFFORD, PRESIDENT (202) 422-6338 VETERANS EDUCATION SUCCESS RESPONDS TO VA’S DECISION TO SUSPEND CALIFORNIA’S ROLE AS A STATE APPROVING AGENCY FOR GI BILL Washington, DC -- Today’s [...]

Politico: Trump Administration Strips CalVet Regulation of For-Profit Colleges

Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success, characterized VA's move as another instance of finger-pointing between Washington and California. "All they've been doing is fighting with each other," she said in an interview. "There's going [...]

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment 2018 Longitudinal Study

The Department of Veterans Affairs published the results for Fiscal Year 2018 of its Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment longitudinal study. The main goal of the study is to examine the post-program outcomes for the VR&E [...]