OUR RESEARCH & REPORTS
Our published reports regarding college accountability and students’ rights.
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 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 Ashford University
Summary of Veteran and Servicemember Student Complaints about Ashford 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 the [...]
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 [...]
VA and States Should Act on Early Warning Signs When Risks to GI Bill Beneficiaries and Taxpayers Emerge at Participating Schools
This report is one in a series of three reports by Veterans Education Success on State Approving Agency (SAA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) oversight of GI Bill participating schools. A second report examines [...]
Congress Should Consider Authorizing VA to Require Letters of Credit from Schools in order to Mitigate Risks to Veterans and Taxpayers
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) lacks the authority to require letters of credit (LOC) from schools eligible to enroll GI Bill beneficiaries. In contrast, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) can require schools [...]
VA Still Not Enforcing 1974 Ban on Schools that Engage in Deceptive Advertising and Recruiting
Summary: This Issue Brief examines the history of schools that rely on misleading advertising and recruiting to enroll veterans and eligible family members and subsequent ban by Congress in 1974 based on contemporaneous findings of [...]
Proposed Short-Term Pell Safeguards Should Be Further Strengthened
Highlights Recently reintroduced legislation known as the JOBS Act would make federal Pell Grants available for very short, 8-week programs intended to help individuals “afford the skills training and credentials that are in high-demand in [...]
Overemphasis on Payment Accuracy Impedes More Effective SAA Oversight of Schools Participating in the GI Bill
Executive Summary State Approving Agencies (SAA), state-level entities that operate under contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), were established to serve as gatekeepers for GI Bill participating schools. Their ability to provide effective, [...]
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. [...]
Proposed Education Department Regulatory Changes Should Be Reevaluated Based on GI Bill Oversight Lessons
ED’s rulemaking should be revaluated based on the lessons learned from GI Bill oversight and the impact on veterans. In each of the areas ED is proposing changes, veterans have been disproportionally harmed in a [...]
OUR ADVOCACY LETTERS
Veterans Education Success works with our military and veteran allies to send policy advice to government officials.
Letter from 51 Higher Education Organizations to Congress in Support of Today’s Students in Response to COVID-19
March 18, 2020 Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, Leader McConnell, and Leader Schumer: As new cases of COVID-19 exposure and infection arise every day, many of the nation’s institutions of higher education are suspending or [...]
Letter to President Donald J. Trump from 34 Military & Veteran Service Organizations Urging Support for H.J. Res 76
March 13, 2020 The Honorable Donald J. Trump The White House Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Trump: In August 2019, you stood with veterans in directing the Education Department to ensure that all totally and [...]
Letter to the Education Department regarding disabled Americans’ student loan relief
We joined education and consumer organizations in a policy letter to the Education Department calling for student loan relief for disabled Americans.
Letter to State AGs regarding the University of Phoenix
February 14, 2020 Dear Attorneys General: As you may have heard, on December 10, 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed settlement[1] with the University of Phoenix (UOP). In its investigation, the [...]
22 Veterans & Military Organizations Letter to Education Department RE: Disabled Veterans’ Loans
22 Leading Veterans and Military Service Organizations submitted a public comment to the US Education Department thanking the Education Department for moving forward with a process to ensure totally and permanently disabled ("TPD") veterans' legal [...]
42 Veterans and Military Organizations Request Senate Action on HR 4625, Protect the GI Bill Act
42 of the nation's leading veterans service organizations and military service organizations wrote the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to request its speedy passage of HR 4625, Protect the GI Bill Act, which cleared the House [...]
21 Military & Veteran Organizations’ Letter to CFPB on Debt Collection
Veterans Education Success organized and led a letter from 21 national military and veteran service organizations to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding its proposed changes to debt collection rules.
TICAS Updated Gainful Employment Rule Fact Sheet (August 2019)
The Institute for College Access and Success published an updated "What to Know About the Gainful Employment Rule,"which worked to improve quality, lower costs, and save taxpayer money. The Trump Administration rescinded the rule on [...]
Veterans and Military Service Organizations urge the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to maintain mandatory underwriting provisions of the rule regulating Payday, vehicle title and high-cost installment loans
Military and Veteran Service Organizations (MSO/VSOs) write to express opposition to recension of underwriting requirements of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) 2017 rule regulating Payday, Vehicle Title and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans.
We submitted a formal “Third Party Comment” regarding the accreditor ACICS to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
We ask you to please review the following two letters regarding ACICS. The concerns of Veterans and Military Service Organizations regarding ACICS still stand:
37 Veterans and Military Service Organizations write Congress to share our priorities for Higher Education Act reauthorization
37 undersigned organizations representing the interests of more than 2 million military-connected current students in higher education, write to ensure that reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) increases college access and improves college completion [...]
Our Statement for the Record: House Veterans Affairs Committee: Pending Legislation
Our statement for the record on pending legislation before the US House Veterans Affairs Committee.
MORE NEWS & INFO
Inside Higher Ed: Maryland Closes 90-10 Loophole
“This groundbreaking legislation makes Maryland the first in the nation to stand up for veterans and stop predatory schools from cheating them out of their hard-earned GI Bill,” said Ramond Curtis, state policy manager for [...]
Education Dive: Maryland could be the first state to close a loophole on federal aid to for-profit colleges
Maryland's bill intends to pose new limits on for-profit schools by forcing them to include military and veteran benefits when determining how much federal aid they rely on for revenue. Many large for-profit chains, such [...]
Washington Post: Maryland General Assembly moves to tighten federal aid restrictions on for-profit colleges
Maryland is poised to become the first state to limit the revenue for-profit colleges can receive from enrolling veterans. On Tuesday, the state House of Delegates unanimously passed legislation to close a loophole in the [...]
Veterans Education Success Hails Maryland as the 1st State in the Nation to Close the 90/10 Loophole
Veterans Education Success Hails Maryland as the First State in the Nation to Close the 90/10 Loophole FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ANNAPOLIS, MD – As they prepare to adjourn over Coronavirus concerns, lawmakers in Annapolis, MD, [...]
Testimony in Support of Maryland SB 294 and HB 593: 2020 90/10 Loophole Closure
HB 593 and SB 294 will protect veterans and servicemembers from fraud and abuse by predatory colleges that target them with aggressive and deceptive recruiting just to get their GI Bill.
New York Times: Senate Rejects DeVos Rule Restricting Debt Relief for Bilked Students
“Veterans had a target on their backs when they were in uniform, there’s no need to have one again when they go to college,” said James Haynes, federal policy manager at Veterans Education Success. “These [...]
Press Release: Veterans Education Success Praises Bipartisan Passage of H.J. Res. 76 in the Senate to Stand with Veterans on Borrower Defense
For Immediate Release Contact: Carrie Wofford | President (202) 422-6338 Tanya Ang | Vice President (949) 244-7690 March 11, 2020 Veterans Education Success Praises Bipartisan Passage of H.J. Res. 76 in the Senate to Stand [...]
Reveal: Veterans Affairs Bans University of Phoenix From New GI Bill Enrollments
"Wofford said the trade commission’s $191 million settlement with the University of Phoenix left the VA little choice but to enforce the law. 'The law is clear,' she said. 'Colleges found to use erroneous, deceptive [...]
The Bellevue Leader: VA Will Suspend Enrollment of New GI Bill Students at Bellevue University, Other Colleges
"The president of Veterans Education Success, Carrie Wofford, praised Monday’s move by the VA. 'This sends a powerful message, one we’ve been advocating for VA to exercise since 2012, that the federal government and taxpayers [...]
WTOP: VA Moves to Suspend New GI Bill Enrollment at 5 Universities
Carrie Wofford, president of the advocacy group Veterans Education Success, said in a statement that the VA’s decision was “more than justified” and sends the message that “the federal government and taxpayers will no longer [...]
KOAA News: VA moves to suspend new GI bill enrollment at 5 universities
Carrie Wofford, president of the advocacy group Veterans Education Success, said in a statement that the VA’s decision was “more than justified” and sends the message that “the federal government and taxpayers will no longer [...]
ISSUES
Policy issues of Veterans Education Success
Veterans Education Success works to improve post-secondary quality and student outcomes to ensure military-connected students enjoy a solid education leading to a successful civilian career. You will find research reports and coalition letters related to college quality and student outcomes.
Veterans Education Success seeks to ensure students have adequate protections and rights and also believes bad actor colleges should be held accountable if they’ve trampled on students’ rights. You will find research reports and coalition letters related to student protections and college accountability.
Vterans Education Success works to protect the GI Bill and other federal education benefits.