For-Profit Colleges Are Taking Too Much From Our Veterans
Hundreds of thousands of veterans attend institutions of higher education with help from the GI Bill.
These are benefits that veterans rightfully earn by virtue of service to our country. But their benefits are in danger from conniving, unaccredited for-profit colleges.
Last year’s GI Bill update restored the benefits to veterans defrauded by two for-profit college chains, Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech. It may well have to introduce similar updates again in the near future.
Fraudulent institutions like this target veterans, and other students, to fleece them of tuition money for a worthless degree… then cut and run.
Student veterans do not deserve to be left in the lurch like this. Any existing loopholes in federal law that allow these fraudulent schools to act in bad faith, should be closed as soon as we can possibly manage it.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has been spearheading efforts to revisit the GI Bill again this year, taking measures to restore any veterans’ benefits lost to “corporations looking to make a buck regardless of who it hurts.”
The Trump administration, particularly through Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, has actively rolled back measures that protect veterans from fraudulent colleges. Deregulation of business may help the economy, but not always the people who buy its goods and services.
At the same time, the administration is also working to make it more difficult for military service members to transfer their GI Bill benefits to spouses and children.
This transferability has been an important retention tool for the military, and an option afforded for years of honorable service to the country.
If you are a veteran who got married or started families later in their careers, and/or were injured during your term of service, these new proposals stand to harm your fiscal security and financial future.
This is exactly why Senator Murray and several of her colleagues wrote a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis asking to put off this change, and why they will continue to fight these policy changes that they consider grossly unjustified.
At the same time, the Military Lending Act has been weakened under Trump. This 2006 legislation protects service members and their families from usury and high-interest predatory lending.
To date, this law has helped restore hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars to service members affected by harmful practices. Despite having voted for Trump in 2-to-1 numbers, the veteran community may well be harmed by the sitting administration’s fiscal policies.
Regardless of your overall values and politics, protecting the financial interests of our veterans should definitely be important to you. These are the rights of those who have met the solemn obligation of service to the United States.
Protecting military families matters. Securing military futures, MATTERS. Let us try to move forward and protect our quality of life, by holding bad schools accountable.
Unfortunately, the only ones that make money on all these kids going to college is the colleges…and the banks, don’t forget the banks…we need to come down hard on them and we need to tell people that just because you go to college doesn’t mean you can’t get a good job. Colleges have convinced businesses that in order to work for them, you need a four-year degree. So they get one and have all these student loans and can’t find a job. Meantime, the trades are suffering…plumbers easily make more than doctors and lawyers, so you will have to pay whatever they charge because they can charge us whatever they want…not everyone was supposed to go to college….
It’s actually gotten so easy, ie: “taking advantage of veterans”, ‘for profit universities, colleges, small learning businesses and lots of other businesses seem to enjoy raking in their illgotten gains!
What, or who, is going to stop them, Congresspersons? Hell, they’re probably on the payroll!
Just like when Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee didn’t think anyone noticed her “passing a thick envelope off to one of the attorneys of Dr. Ford” yesterday! Lee had another envelope in her left hand. I wonder who received that one!
Corruption, from the lowest level of government to the highest level of government, has gotten so rampant in our Republic. It’s hard to tell who the good guys are anymore!
It was easy when most of us were young. The good guys in westerns wore white hats, bad guys wore black! Also, these shows told us how we were supposed to act like. They had morals!
We need those morals back!
That’s all for now!
Hey Elf,
Did you get a chance to check out any of the D.C. Circus yesterday?
I watched a few minutes of her and latter a few minutes of him testifying. Felt that both were lying.
Really have to wonder what is going on at the side show in Washington. I mean here we have the New C.I.A. Director, Gina Haspel, allowing an underling, Dr. Blasey Ford, the head of the C.I.A.’s Internship and Recruitment programs at Stanford University, put on this side show in Congress.
The only thing that was missing from this circus was not having an opening where Sideshow Bob came out and introduce the Senators as supporting actors.
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Seymore,
I’ve been calling this crap – CRAP – for some time!
Just can’t believe how our CONGRESS CRITTERS believe how stupid millions of people are. Yet, People actually believe this CRAP! And then our Republic’s elected officials play us for fools!
I gotta sneaky suspicion, one day the pot will boil over and “The Tree of Liberty Will Bleed Once Again!”
This has been going on for a very long time. I remember taking a course through “ICS” after being discharged. I had a question I needed answered and post office mail was the only way of communicating so I sent off my question in the envelope furnished for such situations. Got an answer back only a month later. By then I forgot where I was in course and what my question was about so I dropped the course and lost my GI benefit. I sent my critique and never heard a word for anyone – just as if no one cared. That was about 1970.
Things are no better today because GREED IS UNLIMITED and can never be satisfied. Someone must always be watching. Unfortunately, with the people in control now, greed is seen as a good thing and veterans and working people as seen as targets to be taken advantage of. We must all vote our best interests and not those of corporations every opportunity.
I voted for Trump…
However, I am not supporting some of his agenda:
The Mitary Lending Act must be kept. To do away with MLA is lethergic, irresponsible, and plain ignorance.
Trump and Betsy Devros must leave well enough alone. Shut down and permanently close “schools or colleges” that abuse veterans AND their GI Bill’s.
I am surprised Devry is not on the list of schools abusing veterans and the GI Bill process.
I also oppose other bits of Trump admin…
@ oifmack
I also voted for Trump… I just don’t like Hillary. End of story… And embarrassed by POTUS impersonator.
And, while some of the
Nowadays, I graciously spend my, unemployable 100% P&T disabled/20-yr retired, days signing daily petitions in support of POTUS’s “immediate” IMPEACHMENT.
I mean, C’mon, anyone who suggests global outlawing of chocolate, can not be a good person.
I also voted for Obama, twice.
I believe a true democracy for all the people, requires support for, and of any/all individuals public needs.
Ya’ know, Excerpt when it involves anything “of interest” to FBI, DOJ, kinda “chargeable” stuff.
Otherwise, I tend to vote for the “individual” I find best suited for my interests, as well as community wide, regional, national, and special interest groups.
Trump’s proven he’s a “wild card”.. who has been played, we lost, and keep losing. He’s gotta go. End of story.
The Senator mentioned in Ben’s above article, Patty Murray, of (D) WA State, where I currently reside.
As well as, Congressman (D) Rick Larsen, and Sen (D) Maria Cantwell…
Balanced out with Regional: Sen (R) Barbara Bailey, and Rep’s (R) Dave Hayes and Norma Smith….
And local county’s Two (R) and One (D)… Truth be told… I feel One of the two (R) commissioners isn’t likely to win upcoming reelection… And I’m a bettin’ woman.. He’s a putz?
While I’m not easily impressed by empty words, I do appreciate and respect my mixed bowl of Rep’s… All easy to talk to, personable. I appreciate each’s admirable outreach to THEIR PUBLIC, to which they’ve been elected by the people to serve.
Just happens that each individual has proven strengths covering my support.
Quickly, I recently wrote Sen Patty Murray, regarding the years of “ongoing lack of mental health care” @ Mount Vernon VA CBOC (SEATTLE VA), whereas US VA OIG’s currently investigating due to info I provided their office with. I was tired of the abusive withholding of basic overall mental health treatment.
Explained Complaint of reasoning is “current” CBOC mental health Staff members withholding necessary mental health medication, simply due to my marijuana use, while random UA’s positive for cannabis, with no other results of abuse.
I recently reached out to WA Sen Patty Murray about years with ongoing lack of mental health care due to personal marijuana use.
Shortly after, I received email from Sen Murray’s Office, supportive interest in assisting me in this matter, including “privacy release form” in order for her to do so.
Just printed form and take care of completing.
We are fortunate here, in Whidbey Island WA.
My multiple TBI’S, w/ associated ADHD, have gone untreated for over 2+ years.
I have the attention span of a gnat.
Which is why I find it horrific that my earned benefit, GI Bill, will soon no longer be available for/to me. I was for classes away from earning BS in Professional Aeronautics w/ Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
I worked hard as a single parent, going to college, and excelling in Military career.
I was, AM Dean’s list.
ERAU revised curriculum, I relocated cross country, and I deployed out-conus multiple times.
Time passed quickly. College classes didn’t fit in.
Years later, I’d attempted getting feet wet @ local SVC college. Disabilities played big part in my failure.
Long story short, the VA took $$$ from me, that was not supported of their taking.
Recovery efforts of funds proved impossible. Screwed up my daily quality of life, caused eviction. That was $$ I relied on to pay living expenses and food.
What a stressful mess.
My 10-year anniversary, for using my earned GI Bill benefits expired Nov2017.
Here I am, losing unused VA benefits, due to years of ongoing lack of mental health care….
Something needs to be fixed here.
We’re broken, They can’t fix Us, Then They take our unused benefits. Humpf?
Zackirk,
Being 71 years old, living through lots of bullshit by both parties, here’s my opinion:
1.) I’m cautious about the republicans I’ve voted for! “Lifers” are a no-no! They accomplish nothing, except get themselves a paycheck. It doesn’t matter where else money comes from either!
2.) After living through and watching years of how democrats treat their constituents – there is absolutely no way I’ll ever vote for a democrat! That’s a fact! Most of these reprobates are criminals! They are even proud to be a criminal!
Side Note: Read my other comment concerning Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tx)!
3.) Even if and when anyone says they’ll “fix the VA” – I already know that can’t be accomplished! Unless the VA is willing to allow itself to do a few things. It needs to be purged for one thing!
Well that’s partly my opinion! Take it or leave it!
Make no mistake about higher institutions of learning. They are ALL geared towards fleecing the students irregardless of backgound of every last cent they can. Higher ed is a bloated scam almost like a ponzie scheme. Everyone keeps pumping money into the degree in hopes it lands a tenured job. Some jobs simply cannot be had without a degree and this was the scholastic types answer to the blue collar answer of forming unions. Higher ed serves the same general functions in some cases as a union which is to sanction some people as fit for a job and others not AND then to demand excessively high wages just to service the debt to those who told them how to make money?
Ever take classes at University? It is normally a joke and formality that you even show up. Professers are not limited or monitored normally much or at all and it boils down to who gets tenure and who does not. Tenure means you just never ever get fired, like VA and I live in a town with seven colleges or universities in a five mile radius. There are no real good uses for higher education except those that focus on trades needing the degree and even then the quality of the people demonstrating their book learned skills is generally very low in contrast to a person who actually works in the field.
Show up at school and like as not in four to eight years you might have a degree but for sure you will be very much the poorer for it. Ben stands out as some do regarding just who foots the bill but the bills for higher ed are insanely high irregardless of where the money gets sent from and most end up loaded with debt to the gills irregardless of the value they received.
Predatory. What isn’t.
Like Harrison colleges instantly closing doors recently.
Specialty courses and position that the general public or many vets are unaware of while foreigners step in and get it all.
Colleges that don’t accept or did not accept gen ed credits from joints like Ivy Tech, etc. Or didn’t back in my days of possibilities.
Colleges ruling communities in many ways including politics, PC-ness, censoring, more voice and influences over the evil townies. Being a veteran plus a townie? Oh and white. Bad news especially if one is not a far lefty or known to be more moderate, a little right that lefty. Trying to get past orientation and set in while dealing with foreigners and those poor minority classed that hate our guts for some activist agenda. Having rule over what places like Ivy Tech and others can teach or offer courses in. What tech or mechanic schools are allowed into the area. Playing fascist tyrants in countless ways. Along with their many alumni and sports jock families or those with special allowances and positions throughout. Not a sports type big fan or don’t bow to their cliques… more trouble with grade points and fitting in. Lacks of aid or understanding about disabled people or the “veteran (older disposable ones) with difficulty in parking, access to classes in buildings with no elevators, just a few minutes to make it across town or campus to make it on time to class. Or the prof to rarely show or tutors we may be paying for ourselves. All things opposite of the concerns and perfect world we see on TV or in commercials.
Oh, and the required shot records for students today and much more. Fit in totally or else.
Under currents the under dark under-bellies of activist, SJWs, professors, commies, identity politics, group think, mob rule, etc. And one is supposed to turn the head when it comes to all the corruption/anti-American activism when it comes to college town living or those wearing cute little rectangular black onyx rings or some other signature of secret clubs and those above the law, immune from any prosecution. Very obvious today more-so.
Their issues of leadership in community censors and pushing out so-called journalist that form the news not report facts. Big issue in communities that boast of having three or more colleges within one town or within a several county community they claim to have ‘great influence over.’
Lets not forget the many issues of the three evil twins (the Gov, banks & elite higher ed establishments) and gov grants given to colleges for whatever and their testing or playing with lab rats, two legged and four.
The layering on of the required classes late in the game to get a desired degree. Still discussed lately by some vets. Or reportedly college staff and their/states voc rehab marketers arguing with them about what degrees to go for and forget about what they personally want to major or get degrees in. Plus dealing with the social engineering, taboo subjects, adapting to revised history and facts. And the colleges today and for years pushing out educated idiots better suited for street activism or playing their games once established in some “professional position” with the alphabet before or after their names.
Plus the degree digging ditches, working McDonalds, leaving the area cause they can’t get jobs because of foreigners being first and nepotism holes to be filled and occupied for life. Or because they just didn’t “fit in.” Vetted out for not being anti-American or far left enough.
No difference between those elite colleges, state or community colleges to so-called Bible or theological institutions of higher learning either. For those in the know I don’t think I have to waste time giving examples or events about my own adventures in “higher learning” or what was called “Life long learning” and where “life experiences” meant something and taken into account. Not today. Today they all follow the likes of Hillary, Obummer, Maxine Waters, to Oprah the fat hag telling the public the old should just go die off, to today’s youth and students should train, re-train, indoctrinate, and school their parents and elders in their global villages and what is expected of us all in today’s culture. Yeah, great fun being a townie and forced to live by college campus and their alumni rules and college kiddy maturity.
Higher learning my fat ass. About every evil we deal with today all came from colleges, PC-ness, all the activism, truth twisting, loss of rights and hate for old vets too.
All as the locals scream about the poor population here, “starving students,” hidden campus crimes, free health care for students, food banks for students – for the wealthy too, over use of credit cards, partying and secret hazing is okay, and more. Damn good thing college towns support all the censoring and ensuring recording things are illegal in areas of town now. Being totally void of ‘investigative reporters.’
Dennis,
you have an interesting take on higher education and make good points about institutions of higher learning failing students who never find jobs except in trades they specifically trained for. Also, you are correct in that many students come out of universities financially devastated. But your assertion “There are no real good uses for higher education except those that focus on trades needing the degree…” demands a response and I offer my experience which seems to have been different from yours as an example
I used the GI Bill to return to college after a tour with a combat unit in Vietnam, studying history and political science. I used more of (the GI bill) it in later years with some time in law school. I never expected to make a living with my degree but found it has enhanced my life and my ability to function as an informed citizen immeasurably. There are few days when I don’t use some of the analytical training and liberal arts knowledge i gained in college. The level of discourse I enjoy, particularly with other educated friends, is so further elevated by virtue of our ability to place historical events in perspective and to understand the psychological and political dynamics of current issues. Without higher education I fear I would be considerably less able to contribute to this discourse. The importance of a broadly educated citizenry in a functioning democracy goes without saying. the glorification of “Common sense” found in modern populism can get you only so far in solving the difficult issues found in our increasingly complex world.
You’re also correct that the tenured system can lead to corrupted education. I was thinking also that the majority of my education, as is probably true for you, was obtained by independent reading and research, not by attending classes taught by pompous over paid professors. Nonetheless, college exposed me to the vast imagination of the human experience, something I would probably never have gotten otherwise. I was able to use the GI Bill (which was paltry at the time) and my own employment to escape the debt that many now have. I don’t know how possible that is these days, a sad tale indeed.
I have a Master’s Degree and don’t believe that college or my post graduate degree made me a lot smarter than I was when I graduated high school. My parents helped with my education and the teachers back then in the 70’s were excellent, but did I need a Master’s Degree to work for the Fed Gov? No, but they required it to get a job as a GS-09…they had complete morons that were GS-12’s without a degree, so…i ran circles around them which is why they don’t want to hire Veterans…we do more work before 9:00 than they do all day…lol
The VA’s answer to this created problem?
Toss more $$$$ onto problem just like putting out fires with gasoline, repeat as required.
(how many congress critters have $$$ interests in these colleges of questionable integrity?)
(…follow the $$$, and betting it leads right to a Stairmaster with an asshole on it…)
Bettsy “Billionairess” Prince Devos who Absolutely like Many of Con-Man-in-Charge Appointee’s has NO Education as an Administrator or Educator. Whose Brother is Eric Prince Founder of Black Water, Donald Dfump’s Private Security Detail. Who supposedly was told of a Conflict of Intrest in a Student Loan Debt Collection Agency named PERFORMANT FINANCIAL and Has a Financial Interest in a few Others, supposedly she divests her interest in these Companies LOL code for: I will put it in a Trust or Family members name instead. So, of Course, she’s prepared to Kill anything Remotely Related to Helping Veteran Students or any Students for that matter. The more Debt that’s Created the Better off it will be for her. This Administration is Normalizing Corruption at every Level….
09/28/2018
Dear Benjamin Krause,
You stated, “Protecting military families matters. Securing military futures, MATTERS. Let us try to move forward and protect our quality of life, by holding bad schools accountable.”
What are the States doing?
The University of Phoenix, lost its name on the Cardinal Stadium 09/04/2018, just after Senator McCain’s death on 08/25/2018, eleven [11] days—this was predicted years ago.
So how long will it take the prosperous State of Arizona to dump the University of Phoenix and all its baggage?
My guess is that you have to wait for the next “15 year crash”/2023 or August of the 2020 Election.
“The University of Phoenix, the largest for-profit university in the United States, has lost a few hundred thousand students in the last five years, according to its parent company.”
“Apollo Education Group, which owns the University of Phoenix, announced Wednesday that revenues and enrollment had fallen in the last quarter about 14 percent compared to the same period in 2014. What’s more, the school’s enrollment five years ago was 460,000 students and now it is 213,000, CNN Money reported. The news on Wednesday sparked a 30 percent drop in Apollo’s stock. (Apollo stock was at $19.57 a share in Thursday morning trading, down 2.4 percent.)
The University of Phoenix, which started in 1976 in the Phoenix area, delivers education largely online but also has brick-and-mortar classrooms. In recent years it has been forced to close some of its classrooms and has faced competition from traditional universities that have started their own online courses.”—03/26/2015 Washington Post.
Meanwhile the Veterans of the United States will be abused by these institutions that refuse to live up to the agreed upon 80/20 figure.
Do you think Gannett/Arizona Republic is going to point this out?
Sincerely,
Don Karg