U
.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) recently introduced bicameral legislation that aims to "put an end to the for-profit college industry's aggressive recruiting of veterans, service members, and their families."
Current federal law prohibits for-profit colleges and universities from deriving more than 90 percent of their revenue from the Education Department's federal student aid programs. The other 10 percent must come from non-federal sources as a way to ensure
that schools are not overly dependent on the federal government for their operation. However, a loophole in the law excludes Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DOD) education benefits from being counted as federal funds.
As a result, for-profit colleges can receive an unlimited percentage of their revenue directly from federal taxpayers by enrolling large numbers of these students. The law gives for-profit colleges a financial incentive to aggressively recruit and
enroll veterans, service members, and their families to their programs, according to a press release.
The POST Act would reinstate the original federal revenue cap of 85 percent on for-profit colleges and expand the definition of federal sources to include VA, DOD, and other federal educational assistance funds. The legislation would also count institutional
loans in the calculation of federal revenue sources and eliminate a school's Title IV eligibility after one year of noncompliance instead of the three consecutive years it now takes.
"We can't let this invitation to exploit our veterans and service members continue," Sen. Durbin said. "The current revenue cap, along with the loophole in the law, allows far too much federal money to funnel to an industry that often provides a greater
return on taxpayer investment to its executives and investors than it does to its students. We must do better for our veterans, service members, and their families."
AACRAO is listed in support of the POST Act.
Related Link
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's Press Release
https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-cohen-congress-must-close-loophole-that-encourages-for-profit-colleges-to-target-veterans-and-service-members