In honor of Veterans Day, the White House announced several new efforts to help veterans get more out of their college educations, reported The Chronicle of Higher Education.
On Wednesday, the Obama administration unveiled an updated GI Bill Comparison Tool, incorporating new data from the broader College Scorecard to provide veteran-specific graduation and retention rates. In addition, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) signed a new agreement to enhance oversight and strengthen enforcement of programs that engage in deceptive or misleading advertising, sales, or enrollment practices aimed at veterans. The FTC is part of a new federal interagency task force that has helped coordinate federal efforts to crack down on for-profit colleges, Inside Higher Ed reported.
The White House also announced that all 50 states now provide in-state tuition rates to veterans using the GI Bill, as the result of a new law. The measure allows recent veterans and their dependents to access lower, in-state tuition rates at public colleges, regardless of their state of residency.
At the same time, President Obama called on Congress to pass a trio of bills that focus heavily on for-profit colleges. One proposed measure would require colleges that receive money through the GI Bill to meet state-specific criteria for accreditation, certification, and licensure (HR 2360). Another bill would allow the U.S. Secretary of Education to reinstate GI Bill benefits for students whose colleges close in the middle of a term (S 2253). The third legislative proposal would replace the 90/10 rule with an 85/15 rule.
Under the 85/15 rule, for-profit colleges would have to receive at least 15 percent of their revenue from nonfederal sources to qualify for federal student aid. That legislation, which was introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), would also alter the current rule to count educational benefits for veterans and members of the military toward that federal limit.
In a call with reporters on Tuesday, Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said such a shift would "ramp up accountability to schools that are marketing to veterans" and ensure that they were providing an education that students would be willing to pay for with their own money.
Related Links
White House Fact Sheet
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/11/fact-sheet-honoring-service-our-nations-veterans
The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/article/Obama-Takes-Steps-to-Assure/234147
Inside Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/11/11/white-house-push-veterans-education