Lawmakers held a congressional field hearing on Wednesday focusing on student veterans. Subcommittees from House Education and Labor and Veterans' Affairs met at Grossmont College in El Cajon, California to discuss how to better protect students, veterans, and taxpayers from predatory, low-quality institutions of higher education.
"Although most student veterans do not attend for-profit institutions, these schools take in over 40 percent of all GI Bill funds," Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA), chairman of the higher education and workforce investment subcommittee, said in prepared remarks. "Between 2009 to 2017, eight of the top ten recipients of GI Bill tuition and fees went to for-profit schools, including now-shuttered college chains—ITT Technical institutes, Education Corporation of America, and Dream Center Education Holdings—which consumed billions of taxpayer dollars, only to leave students with crushing debt and no degree."
The hearing comes as a coalition of veterans groups continues to push Congress to alter the 90/10 rule, which they argue gives for-profit colleges an incentive to aggressively market to veterans. The rule requires 10 percent of the revenue from for-profit institutions that are eligible for federal aid to come from non-federal sources. The cap does not apply to revenue from U.S. military and veteran student benefits, like the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The rule was enacted by Congress in the 1990s to be a form of quality control because it requires for-profits to attract some students who pay out of pocket and to prevent for-profits from relying only on federal aid revenue.
Related Links
Joint Field hearing on "Protecting Those Who Protect Us: Ensuring the Success of our Student Veterans"
https://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/-joint-field-hearing-on-protecting-those-who-protect-us-ensuring-the-success-of-our-student-veterans
Politico
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-education/2019/04/24/house-panels-to-focus-on-protecting-student-veterans-428260