We advocate for military-connected students before the Education Department
Disabled veterans’ right to student loan forgiveness
We had a major win in forcing the US Education Department to honor disabled veterans’ legal right to student loan forgiveness. Still more to do!
Loan Relief for Students Defrauded by a School
We fight for defrauded veterans to get their student loans forgiven by the Education Department, and their Pell Grants restored.
Integrity and Quality Standards by Colleges
We advocate for rules requiring colleges to abide by basic integrity rules and meet minimum quality standards.
Accreditation and Accreditors
We push for high quality standards by accreditors and we expose lax accreditors.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DATA
U.S. Education Department Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
OUR LETTERS TO THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Our Letter to the Dept. of Education re: “Low-Financial-Value” Colleges
VES comments on behalf of Veterans Education Success in response to the Department of Education’s Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Public Transparency for Low-Financial-Value Postsecondary Programs, published in the Federal Register on January 11, 2023.
Veterans & Military Organizations’ Letter to the Dept. of Education re: “Low-Financial-Value” Colleges
The undersigned military and veteran organizations write to provide comments on the above-referenced Request for Information (RFI). We agree with the Department that low-financial-value programs “may cause particularly acute harm for student loan borrowers who may struggle to repay their debts after discovering too late that their postsecondary programs did not adequately prepare them for the workforce” and that “taxpayers also shoulder the costs.” We write specifically regarding the impact on student veterans and military-connected students.
Letter to NC-SARA re: Proposal to Elevate SARA’s Consumer Protection Standards
The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), administered by the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), lowers barriers for schools to offer online programs in multiple states, easing the way for institutions to expand the reach of their online programs. SARA’s impact is immense - almost 6 million students were enrolled in online programs at more than 2,300 SARA participating schools in Fall 2020, including 1.6 million students enrolled in online programs based outside of their state.1 Every state except for California is a SARA member. 2 However, the agreement’s standards set an extremely low bar for consumer protection, leaving millions of online students vulnerable to abuse by unscrupulous schools.
Our Letter to the Department of Education on the Council on Occupational Education.
VES advocacy letter on behalf of students and veterans in higher education in response to the call for third-party comments announced on November 14, 2022, in the Department of Education’s Notice Accrediting Agencies Currently Undergoing Review for the Purpose of Recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education. 1 Our comments concern the Council on Occupational Education (“COE”) and the senior Department official’s (SDO) decision letter dated October 27, 2021, requiring COE to come into compliance with 34 C.F.R. Part 602 within 12 months and to submit a compliance report within 30 days thereafter.
Our Nomination Letter for Debbie Cochrane for Appointment to NACIQI
September 15, 2022 The Honorable Miguel Cardona, Ed.D. Secretary of Education U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW Washington, DC 20202 Mr. Secretary, Responding to the Department of Education’s Federal Register notice of August 16, 2022, I write on behalf of Veterans Education Success to nominate Ms. Debbie Cochrane, [...]
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT REPORTS
U.S. Department of Education, New Analysis Finds Many For-Profit Colleges Skirt Federal Funding Limits (Dec. 2016)
U.S. Department of Education, New Analysis Finds Many For-Profit Colleges Skirt Federal Funding Limits: 90/10 Data Released (Dec. 2016). Data excel spreadsheet here. New analysis released today by the U.S. Department of Education reveals many for-profit schools would likely exceed the 90/10 federal funding limits if revenue from Department of [...]
U.S. Department of Education: New Analysis Finds Many For-Profit Colleges Skirt Federal Funding Limits: 90/10 Data Released
New analysis released today by the U.S. Department of Education reveals many for-profit schools would likely exceed the 90/10 federal funding limits if revenue from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) programs were included in the 90/10 calculation the same way Title IV funds are [...]
MORE NEWS & INFO
Our Comment on the Computer Matching Agreement between the Department of Education and the Department of Veterans Affairs
We are providing comments on the May 6, 2021, Federal Register Notice (ED-2021-FSA-0005) concerning the re-establishment of the flawed computer matching agreement (CMA) between the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The objective of the CMA is to assist ED with verification of [...]
Yahoo Finance: Student loan forgiveness: New bill aims to help active-duty military service members
The fact that only 124 active duty service members had their loans discharged via PSLF "is a major warning sign," Mike Saunders, director of military and consumer policy at Veterans Education Success told Yahoo Finance. "More than 200,000 currently serving have federal student loans. It has been over four years [...]
GAO: 94% of PSLF Applicants Employed By DoD Have Been Denied; 124 Active Duty Servicemembers Have Earned Loan Forgiveness
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: DOD and Its Personnel Could Benefit from Additional Program Information The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is intended to encourage people to enter public service. It forgives the federal student loan balances of eligible borrowers who have made at least 10 years of payments while in [...]
Comment from 15 Groups on Federal Student Aid’s Strategic Plan FY 2020-24
October 23, 2020 Major General Mark A. Brown, USAF (Ret.) Chief Operating Officer Office of Federal Student Aid 830 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20202 Re: Comments on FSA’s Approach to Financial Aid Issues in its Draft Strategic Plan To Whom It May Concern: These comments are [...]
Letter from 77 Organizations Asking for the Extension of the Suspension of Student of Loan Payments
October 28, 2020 The Honorable Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Ave., SW Washington, DC 20202 Dear Secretary DeVos: We, the 77 undersigned community, civil rights, consumer, labor, and student advocacy organizations, write to urge you to immediately extend the federal student [...]
