Introduction:

A large number of veterans written report that they have pupil loans they never authorized or knew about, or that they were forced to take out loans midway through their pedagogy program despite beingness promised that their GI Pecker benefits would cover all tuition. The problem is and so widespread that it is i of the about common complaints received at Veterans Education Success out of thousands of complaints over the by eight years.

Aware of the magnitude of the problem, U.S. House Veterans Diplomacy Committee Chairman Marking Takano filmed a PSA video with a student veteran that highlights the veteran's experience of being signed up for a loan without his cognition or permission:

"The admissions process was very rushed. So, the admissions person would exist seeing the screen and we would only be signing our name on the notepad…. Me and other veterans out there, they took out loans in [our] names. I'm left with debt and no degree and… wasting my GI Bill." – Army veteran Travis Craig

What is so frustrating to student veterans who discover these loans is that they know their hard-earned GI Bill would encompass the full tuition and fees at any public academy in the country, as required by federal statute, with a housing and book allowance on summit of it. In other words, they have no need for loans.

Why then would so many veterans wind up with loans they did non know about or loans they did not think they would need when they started at the school?

Whistleblowers at several predatory higher companies offer some valuable insights. They explicate that they are told to hide the fact that their tuition is college than the GI Bill will cover. They know that public universities are fully covered by GI Bill tuition, with no demand for student loans. Therefore, the recruiters at predatory colleges lie to veterans by promising the GI Bill will encompass all costs when they know it will not. Predatory colleges apply a variety of tactics that event in crushing loans that veterans did not desire or plan to obtain when they chose to enroll at the school:

  • Some recruiters and financial assist employees utilize veterans' personal information (such as social security number) to accept out loans in the veterans' names without their knowledge or permission, to cover tuition above the GI Bill cap. One whistleblower explained to Veterans Education Success that the schoolhouse applies for loans in veterans' names past creating an e-mail account for the veteran that the veteran doesn't know about (such as "firstname.lastname54321@gmail.com") and so filing for student loans using that email account for all correspondence with the U.S. Department of Didactics's Federal Student Assist office (FSA). While FSA believes information technology is corresponding with the "student," the student has no knowledge of the application, loan, or even the being of the email account.
  • In other situations, both whistleblowers and pupil veterans explain that veterans are presented with "standard enrollment documents" to sign, when in fact veterans are being deceived into signing up for unwanted student loans.
  • Many veterans complain they are told midway through their education – frequently pulled out of class in the middle of an exam – that their GI Neb benefits are expended and they must immediately sign a educatee loan document in order to return to class and go along at the institution.
  • Finally, many predatory colleges require veterans to take out loans while the school waits for GI Pecker benefit money to arrive. When the GI Bill funds later arrive, the veterans' accounts are overfunded and they find they have thousands of dollars of loans they never wanted. This is exactly what happened to Navy veteran Jonathan Ngowacki, who was highlighted in a PSA video past the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Ngowaki was signed up for educatee loans without his knowledge or permission. This was despite the fact that he specifically, and on several occasions, asked his college financial assist role to ensure he had no loans because he knew his GI Nib would cover everything. Jonathan was especially upset because at 1 betoken his account was overfunded and he received a "refund" bank check from his college. He took the bank check to the college and said he was extremely worried information technology was a loan simply was promised it was a grant he would not need to pay back. That was untrue.

Student Complaints

Since 2013, Veterans Education Success has received about four,000 complaints from service members, veterans, and their family members who utilize VA benefits. A pregnant proportion concern deceptive practices past institutions regarding student loans and financial help – specially existence signed up for loans they did not want or know about and/or beingness wrongly bodacious their educational benefits from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) or VA would cover the unabridged toll of their education. These students report they often experienced a rushed enrollment process and received confusing, conflicting, or misleading explanations about fiscal aid and how their college feel would be financed.

In 2016, Veterans Education Success began publishing reports analyzing trends in the students' complaints, including the most oft cited bug at specific schools. To date, we take completed 12 such reports covering colleges owned past the education corporations listed in Tabular array 1, listed in order of the number of complaints analyzed for this report.[1] This report summarizes the student loan and financial aid complaints by educatee veterans (and some servicemembers and dependents) in our previously published trends reports. We include several representative quotes from student veterans for each blazon of effect raised. We besides include whistleblower statements when applicable.

Ultimately, these schools' actions have burdened veterans with thousands of dollars of unwanted loans (on top of exhausting their GI Beak benefits), damaging their finances and their transition to successful noncombatant careers. Meanwhile, the companies have reaped billions in GI Bill funds[2] and many accept faced multiple law enforcement actions for deceiving students.[3]

ITT Technical Institute

Student Veteran Complaints:

More than one-3rd of the 528 student complaints received by Veterans Teaching Success as of February 13, 2020, about ITT Tech reported that the school had taken out student loans on their behalf, often without the student'due south knowledge. See pages 3-4 of our April 2020 study.

  • Pupil M.H. was told by ITT Tech counselors that they would help him utilize for his GI Pecker, which would cover everything. Even so, he received a bill from Sallie Mae shortly after, and the counselors informed him that he was on the claw for the loans.
  • Student F.C. said, "I was told by ITT Tech that my GI Bill will pay for my tuition for my two-year degree. Merely I accept a $15,000 debt from them and even so paying."
  • Student R.D. said, "Like most everyone I've talked to, I too simply filled out the computerized applications ITT directed me to and signed the papers they printed out. Never one time was I shown an amount or offered counsel [for] pupil loan debt. My credit…is now even further damaged considering I am unable to repay my loans."
  • Student C.C. reported, "On more than ane occasion, the finance department had already applied for unlike types of loans on my behalf without my permission. When I asked them why they were ruining my credit and applying for individual loans on my behalf, I was told that they were behind and applied for the loans to try and catch up before the semester started, then told me I simply needed to sign, because other students were waiting. I was never given a chance to explain my displeasure of this and was made to feel that I had no other pick if I wanted to nourish classes."
  • Student M.B. was promised that his GI Bill benefits would pay for everything, but instead found out he had been signed upward for student loans he never authorized.
  • Student D.B. constitute out subsequently he graduated that ITT Tech, unbeknownst to him, had maxed out his student loans instead of only taking out pocket-sized loans equally he had expected.

Educatee Veteran Public Testimony:

Brian Whitehead testified during an October 2021 public comment catamenia of the Department of Instruction in conjunction with its negotiated rulemaking. Brian explained that, when he enrolled, ITT Tech told him that his GI Nib benefits would cover his unabridged education, but this was not true. Thirteen years later on earning a ii-year degree, he all the same owes virtually $50,000 in federal student loan debt and another $xl,000 of private student loan debt. He explained that his task barely pays the bills and he has to ask for help from his family and friends to make ends run across. Read his testimony here.

Firm Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Marking Takano'south Video with Pupil Veteran Travis Craig about Unknown Loans:

In this PSA video, Army veteran Travis Craig explains to Chairman Takano that he unknowingly signed up for a loan when he enrolled at ITT Tech:

"The admissions procedure was very rushed.  We signed everything on electrical notepads, and then us, as students, we didn't really know what nosotros were signing for.  Then, the admissions person would exist seeing the screen and we would just exist signing our proper noun on the notepad…. Me and other veterans out there, they took out loans in [our] names. I'1000 left with debt and no degree and… wasting my GI Bill."

Perdoceo Education Corporation: American Intercontinental Academy, Colorado Technical University, and Trident University

Pupil Veteran Complaints:

Nearly half of the 520 students who contacted Veterans Education Success as of September 17, 2021, near schools currently or previously operated by Career Educational activity Corporation (rebranded in 2020 as Perdoceo Didactics Corporation) identified problems with student loans and financial assist. See pages 12-16 of our 2021 report. Many veterans were perplexed about the pupil loan debt they incurred at this company's schools, given the educational benefits available to them. Some students incurred loan debt in the tens of thousands of dollars. They complained most existence told that they had to have out loans "just in instance" and that the loans would exist repaid (which proved untrue) one time the school received VA payments for their tuition and fees.

  • Educatee M.W. said, "So, I did. One time I graduated, I got a bill in the mail from student loans."
  • Student M.R. shared, "Made me apply for student loans fifty-fifty though I was enrolled in Voc Rehab" [VA's vocational rehabilitation program].
  • Student K.R. stated, "When I first enrolled, I received quite a chip of e-mail insisting that I had to apply for student loans. As a VA Voc Rehab educatee, everything was covered… yet I kept receiving these nastygrams insisting that I could not attend until I applied for loans. I did telephone call and they did attempt to sell me on the idea of educatee loans, I pushed dorsum. The student loan harassment finally ended."
  • Student J.P. stated, "When I enrolled in the school, I was instructed by their financial planner that I would need pupil loans to cover the upfront tuition since the GI Bill paid for [subsequent] months and my tuition would need to be paid ahead of time in order to begin classes. I have since defaulted…."
  • Student Z.Thousand. shared, "I somehow owe $4,000 [on] a loan that was not supposed to be in that location. When GI Nib came in, the loan was supposed to be wiped out. Now I'g defaulted on the pupil loans and currently paying on it."

Some students indicated that the loans were taken out without their permission or that they did not know that they had loans until they graduated.

  • Student S.Thousand. explained, "I had to have $30,000 in student loans that I didn't know nigh until I owed it."
  • Student D.M. shared, "I used Advertisement [agile duty] TA [tuition aid] and ended up getting loans over $40,000 and equally of today I still don't know why. I used my TA and that should have paid for more than it did. My degree isn't great. Plus I was pushed into an MBA program that has no credit [on the task market]."
  • Student R.One thousand. said, "I have also filed for a student loan discharge showing the violations that they committed as well equally the information showing that I was not enlightened or informed of the student loans that I was taking out. It was presented to me as a fiscal hardship grant because I was a unmarried mother at the fourth dimension and could not afford to attend school. This school continuously committed unfair and predatory practices."
  • Student K.S. shared, "I used my GI Bill to cover costs of my terminal two degrees and and so become student help relief thinking that I but had $x,000 in student loans. I found out that on top of GI Pecker, AIU had put in for other student loans so now I am upward to around $25,000 without even knowing nearly the additional loans."

Some students alleged that they were tricked into high-involvement-charge per unit private loans.

  • Student G.L. reported, "Some students said that the school created confusion and did not fully explain to them why the loans were needed."
  • Student One thousand.South. reported, "I have been asking for a long fourth dimension why I needed to have pupil loans when I have the Tuition Assistance and [the] GI Nib. I am still paying on ii loans since graduating back in 2009-2010. In combination I owe over $12,000 between the two student loans."
  • Student Southward.T. shared, [on] which I notwithstanding owe $9,000."
  • Student C.K. said, "I thought they were charging TA and instead I still have $20,000 of pupil loans. I would have never gone to the college if I knew information technology would have caused me so much debt."
  • Student J.Fifty. shared, "I wanted to utilize my VA money to pay for courses, yet they insisted they needed to use student loan money for payment. Their excuse was that it was easier for their billing department."
  • Pupil B.Due east. spoke to a Veterans Education Success employee, who recorded the pupil's experience: "Colorado Tech's VA representative misled him into thinking he had benefits that would cover about of his tuition. Rushed him into signing FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Aid] forms, 'just in case' information technology was needed. Concluded up with $70,000 of debt."

Educatee Public Testimony:

In his November 2021 testimony during the Department of Education'due south negotiated rulemaking public comment catamenia, Marine Corps veteran Chris Glock explained that Colorado Technical University charged various fees that were not covered by the GI Neb. These included extra fees for taking classes online during COVID that left him with a bill for thousands of dollars for YouTube videos and online form materials that he tin no longer access. Read his testimony here.

Whistleblower Allegations:

An admissions counselor at Colorado Technical University for four years explained how admissions staff recruited veterans and signed them up for loans in false and deceptive ways. The post-obit are direct quotes from an affirmation that he submitted to the Department of Instruction and other federal agencies:

  • "We were also trained to push the veterans into moving upward their outset date, even if their war machine benefits had non been verified or determined. Only similar the other policies broken past CTU, on paper, CTU's policy is designed to make sure military students have the fourth dimension needed to make the best decision for themselves. But in exercise and in reality, to get as many veterans as possible, management would pressure level the student to go immediately and extend any necessary deadlines to get them started right away. It would ofttimes result in students having to pay for charges out of pocket and by using Title Iv grants and loans instead of waiting a few weeks and having the cost covered by their armed services benefits. We were trained to tell them not to worry near information technology; that information technology would piece of work out. Then CTU would hit these students with a payment and tell them the cutoff for using armed services benefits was already passed. Many students I worked with would end upwards existence stuck paying for a class that they were pushed into."
  • "Veterans would exist told different data regarding their funding and benefits past unlike recruiters, which made it difficult for them to make informed decisions. I had worked with armed services students for over three years without knowing the term 'Yellow Ribbon Program.'"

That whistleblower further explained that the school would "re-utilise" students' signatures from other documents on financial aid documents. Then the schoolhouse would tell the students that they were ready to get-go schoolhouse, without explaining the loan documents taken out in their names without their knowledge. Besides, the school would "overload" the fiscal help in the showtime, and then that there would be no funding left for students when they were trying to finish their degrees. Then students would be led to sign a student payment contract (to encompass debt owed to the school).

Another whistleblower who worked for eight years equally a Retention Advisor at CTU met with the Department of Veterans Diplomacy and the Department of Justice and explained that students complained about unauthorized loans "all the fourth dimension." Students are often confused by what they are told by financial help representatives, and data is "oft withheld" in financial aid conversations.

University of Phoenix

Student Veteran Complaints:

Three hundred of the complaints received by 2017 from military-connected students nigh University of Phoenix, analyzed by Yale Law School, identified problems with student loans and financial aid. Run across pages nine-10 of Yale's May 2017 report. Many veterans reported that they were convinced to enroll based on promises that the GI Bill would comprehend their tuition and that they would not need to accept out loans, promises which turned out to exist faux or misleading. Other veterans told us that they were encouraged to take out loans, even when these loans seemed unnecessary.

  • Student C.B. said, "I was recruited to [Academy of Phoenix] with a caste plan that would allow me to consummate my degree with nigh six months to spare on my GI Neb. Afterwards my first semester, I was informed that the information I was given was inaccurate and that I'd actually have to pay out of pocket for a semester."
  • Student B.Southward. reported, " Now I'one thousand in debt for $fourscore,000 and tin can barely make the payments permit lonely the loftier interest rate." In other, more extreme cases, students written report that University of Phoenix took out loans on their behalf without their consent.
  • Student C.L. said, "They waited until I finished my kickoff semester to tell me that my GI Bill was denied and that they had signed me up for Sallie Mae."
  • Educatee J.G. reports, "I was enrolled into a loan for the starting time month of the programs and I wasn't aware until I started getting the letters after I had graduated from [Academy of Phoenix]. The loan was used to pay off the beginning class and the whole time I idea information technology was taken intendance of through my GI Bill."

Student Public Testimony:

Michelle Poitier testified in October 2021 at the Education Department'due south negotiated rulemaking public comment period. Ms. Poitier is a Navy veteran who graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2010. She couldn't become a task in her field and had $30,000 in student loan debt that she didn't realize she was signing up for on elevation of using her VA benefits. Read her public comment here or watch her video testimony here.

DeVry University

Student Veteran Complaints:

Veterans Didactics Success analyzed 266 complaints about DeVry received past August 2016 from military-connected students. Nigh 75 percent of the complaints reported financial aid or student loan bug, including student loans taken out past the school in their names without their knowledge. See pages 3-13 of our Baronial 2016 study. Students reported finding out that they were charged different amounts than their classmates or that the "discount" they were promised was the normal base cost for tuition. Some too reported subconscious fees that appeared after enrollment. For example, one student reported he had to keep paying out of pocket for different costs and fees that were not disclosed when he was recruited.

  • Pupil 50.F. reported, "When I spoke to student services with DeVry prior to enrolling, I was told that my GI Bill along with federal assist would cover my four-yr degree. The final semester, I received a beak prior to graduation in the corporeality of $two,000 proverb that this amount would not exist covered and in club to get access to my official transcripts I would take to pay this corporeality out of pocket."
  • Student M.Z. said, "I received my bachelor's caste from DeVry Academy Orlando. Upon completion they claimed that I owe over $i,200.
  • Student One thousand.K. explained, "I was told that I owed a balance considering my FTA [Regular army National Guard Federal Tuition Assistance] and other associated VA benefits didn't comprehend it, so I paid out of pocket only to later find out that I owed more, and I had to pay that likewise."
  • Student T.N. shared, "I was told that I would not have enough to encompass the price of my whole tuition. I sought private loans and I too had a calendar month left on my G.I. Pecker, which DeVry said that I need to max out. Months later I received an email stating that a debit had been created in my name due to a grade that I had already received credit for. When I commencement started attending DeVry, I submitted all other transcripts from my previous colleges and military education, just I was not granted any credits. All of a sudden I have credits from something that I had not been notified about. I have tried to talk to them simply only go the run effectually."
  • Student A.W. said, "I went to DeVry for a few months using TA and a Pell Grant, all money went to the school. I become a call saying I owe money. I'g an active duty soldier and accept never had to pay out of pocket for school."

Student Veteran Congressional Testimony:

Veteran Eric Luongo testified to Congress last year he still has over $100,000 in student debt from DeVry, fifty-fifty though he was assured he could attend for free through funding from his GI Beak and Pell Grants. Read his testimony here.

Whistleblower Allegations:

A former military recruiter for DeVry, Christopher Neiweem, testified at a June 2013 U.Southward. Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on DoD'southward voluntary instruction programs. He testified that DeVry'southward  and that they used multiple deceptive recruiting practices. Read his testimony here.

Following Neiweem'southward testimony, three other military recruiters from DeVry wrote to the Senate Subcommittee to support Neiweem's testimony and add together their own experiences with DeVry's deceptive recruiting practices.  Read their letters here. They reported, in role, that recruiters were instructed non to mention the cost of classes during enrollment or what pupil loan repayments could look like. (See letters from Christopher Gross and Vonn Helwig)

Pedagogy Direction Corporation/Dream Heart Instruction Holdings: Fine art Institute, Argosy Academy, S Academy, and Brownish Mackie College

Student Veteran Complaints:

Financial aid and educatee loan issues were raised by nearly forty percent of the 202 students who contacted Veterans Education Success as of March 2021 near schools owned by Dream Eye Educational activity Holdings and formerly endemic by Education Management Corporation. Run into pages 3-5 of our May 2021 written report. Many students reported that they incurred a substantial amount of pupil loan debt that they could not pay back because of the inadequate degrees and poor job placement of these institutions. Some alleged that the school encouraged them to take out loans despite their education benefits from VA or had them sign loan paperwork without explaining the documents at all. Some veterans complained that these schools promised tuition would be covered, but then presented them with costs and loans.

  • Pupil Chiliad.D. said of The Fine art Institute, "At the time they told me everything is paid for. However, they neglected to tell me that as a reservist who served downrange forth with new restructuring of the constabulary, information technology was non all gratuitous, and afterward just 2 semesters, the former existence free, I was hit with a $3,500 pecker."
  • Student T.S. complained, "I went [to] Brown Mackie in South Bend, Indiana for [six] months for a business major. My VA benefits took longer [than expected] to receive. I didn't know what to do, the woman told me that if I was able to get the resource [within] the side by side 24 hours that they could abolish the loan request before it went through. I called the VA every bit before long as I got home. It turns out the school gave me the wrong school code and other information. I got everything squared abroad on the phone and my benefits were approved that day, they told me it would take a week to get the money. I chosen the school directly after and as soon as I got on the phone with the [financial assistance] she [congratulated] me as my loan had gone through. I asked if I could cancel it and she said no it is also tardily at present since it's already been canonical. At present I'yard $viii,000 in schoolhouse loan debt."
  • Pupil G.A. explained about S University, "I was twice encouraged to take out plush individual loans to nourish grade with the explanation that I could not attend if the money was not guaranteed. Private loans were subsequently refunded to me as stipends, equally the money I was told to apply for was $three,000 over what I needed. I incurred over $90,000 in debt to receive my Bachelor's Degree (Psychology)."
  • Student J.C. said that he attended IADT (International Academy of Design and Applied science) and the Fine art Institute of Las Vegas. "I was nether the impression my GI Bill covered everything and during semester changes I was told I had coin I could accept. I didn't know what a disbursement bank check was merely they said I had money. Little did I know I had to pay it all dorsum and now, ten years later, I am $40,000 plus in pupil debt."

Educatee Veteran Public Testimony:

Nicole Wilson served in the Navy and Ohio Army National Guard. She testified in October 2021 at the Education Department's negotiated rulemaking public comment that she feels like she wasted her time, money, and government benefits attention Brown Mackie College and Bryant & Stratton College, and that these schools provided a poor education and made many fake promises. Read her testimony here and watch a video of her testimony.

Ashford University

Student Veteran Complaints:

Almost 20 percent of the 129 students who contacted Veterans Education Success equally of December 2021 virtually Ashford Academy complained about financial aid or student loan issues, including that Ashford advised veterans and servicemembers to accept out student loans or took out loans on their behalf. Many of those veterans and servicemembers reported being confused about why Ashford did this, and also reported having large amounts of student loan debt as a result. Some also allege that Ashford promised them a special "military machine grant" that never arrived. See pages 8-x of our December 2017 report.

  • Student M.C. shared, "I was told that with their tuition interruption and my GI Bill I would take no out-of-pocket expenses. [Simply] each time a new semester came around I needed more money and was told a student loan was the best way to do it."
  • Student B.D. said, "The cost of tuition for this school was much greater than they recruited me for, then there were student loans taken out. They said financial aid needed to be a second form of payment. However, because of my military condition and benefits, it wouldn't exist used."
  • Student D.South. explained, "I was signed up for loans I did not know about when my GI Bill ran out."
  • Pupil N.G. reported, "I was promised a military grant that would pay over 25 pct of my tuition and fees. Now I'm overwhelmed with loan debt because that grant was only five percentage. And so many lies and information technology's difficult to contact someone in one case you've got in. They don't want to discuss anything."
  • Student J.E. said, "I feel that Ashford'south cost for online classes and the amount of money they used for my degree over the two years was ridiculous. They used my post 9/11, grants and student loans to pay for my tuition."
  • Student J.J. explained, "I was referred by a friend who attended Ashford. Everything seemed to sound great initially. All the same, Every bit soon as the funds became available, Ashford withdrew the loan to pay for my classes. I had never planned on using student loans, I had thought that with my GI Beak I wouldn't accept to worry about loans piling up."
  • Student C.R. shared, "While signing up for the GI Bill, I was nether the impression that I was signing up for grants or money that was to back-trail the GI Bill for recipients. Now that I have over $40,000 in student loans, I feel similar I was left holding the bag. My credit has taken a hit. . ."
  • Pupil South.K. reported, "The school continuously maxed me out on student loans every semester even though I got GI Bill . . . Now not only practise I take 2 degrees that are almost practically useless but I am over $seventy,000 in debt, running out of GI Bill money, attempting to get my lPK-3 instruction licensure classes complete, and working towards a doctoral program and I just tin't afford this fiscal[ly]. I am disabled and retired from the military. I have no idea how I am going to be able to afford to repay these loans on a stock-still income if I tin can't get a job with the degrees I worked for over seven years to earn. It's super depressing and frustrating."
  • Student K.S. complained, "I enrolled in Ashford University which is a for-profit school, in 2010. I am a disabled veteran and had my schooling completely paid for. However, I still had to fill out federal loan papers. After having an extreme emotional hardship, I dropped out of school after a yr. I only could not focus on school and family unit issues. I then received 2 checks in the mail totaling approximately $10,000. I chosen the schoolhouse and they said to just go ahead and cash the checks. Every month I would receive a pocket-sized cheque of over-payment from the GI Beak, so I figured it was the remaining amount afterward dropping out of schoolhouse. I practise remember cashing the one check, but not the other. I e'er wondered why I fifty-fifty had to fill out loan papers if my schooling was completely paid for? I take been dealing with this for v years. I accept sent many correspondences, with nothing in return. It has completely ruined my credit. I accept a family of five and nosotros are unable to now get a safe car because of my credit. I finally recently received a alphabetic character stating that my loan is now in default and the funds to pay off the loan will be taken out of my federal and country taxation returns."
  • Student V.C. said, "Also I had the post 9/xi GI Bill that went direct to the school. Fifty-fifty nevertheless they continued to send educatee loan after student loan. I am not sure what my GI Bill paid for, notwithstanding I have most $60,000 in student loans now."
  • Student S.P. reported, " I applied to pay for it all but they but submitted it to pay for a portion. My student portal doesn't reflect that I owe annihilation but I got a call from the school saying I owe nearly $four,000 to them and I won't get my degree until it'south paid back."

Student Veteran Public Testimony

Navy Reservist Jonelle Daugherty testified at the Department of Education's negotiated rulemaking in Jan 2022. She explained that when she enrolled at Academy of the Rockies (which later merged with Ashford Academy), the school promised her that they would provide Yellow Ribbon and other funding to make up for any shortfall afterwards her GI Bill benefits were used up. She testified, "Contrary to their initial promise, the school has refused to provide the additional funding, and I had to accept out student loans to continue my education." Ms. Daugherty has more than $200,000 in loans she never wanted. Read her public comment here.

Whistleblower Allegations:

Several one-time employees of Ashford Academy have spoken out about Ashford's misconduct and deception; their statements were documented in our memorandum to the Federal Merchandise Commission. Two whistleblowers who recently worked in the military recruiting sectionalization at Ashford described the deception employed by sales representatives to become military-connected students, called "leads," to enroll, as well as the unwillingness of the school to help those students once enrolled.

For instance, Ashford offered a military disbelieve to get potential students to commit, just "what we'd notice out is they never filed the correct paperwork for the student to get the armed forces disbelieve. Academy doesn't care later enrollment. University would not go back and honor information technology retroactively because they said it was the student's responsibility."

Ane of these employees, Eric Dean, told NBC News that Ashford pressured him to enroll veterans "no matter what" and to keep them enrolled for at least three weeks, at which point they would become ineligible for a refund.

Court Judgment Against the School:

On March 7, 2022, the San Diego Superior Court issued a 47-page decision ruling in favor of the California Attorney General's Office, finding that Ashford University violated California consumer protection law past giving students false or misleading information in order to entice them to enroll. The Court ordered Ashford to pay a fine of more than $22.37 meg.   (Come across page 20.) This included misrepresentations that students would receive a specific type or amount of help (grants or loans), that aid would cover specific costs, that students would receive a stipend, and that students would have no, or only limited, out-of-pocket costs. (See id.) The Court establish that Ashford "evidently recognized that it was misleading for admissions counselors to predict aid awards." This ruling corroborates the statements made by student veterans to a higher place.

Kaplan University

Educatee Veteran Complaints:

More than than sixty percent of the 94 students who contacted Veterans Education Success by mid-2017 nearly Kaplan Academy complained about financial aid or program costs. Run across pages 4-xi of this report from Harvard Constabulary Schoolhouse'southward Project on Predatory Lending. To fill the gap between tuition and military benefits, veterans and servicemembers report that Kaplan sometimes took out loans in students' names without their permission. Veterans and servicemembers also report that Kaplan borrowed the maximum amount and, in some cases, Kaplan gave a portion of the loan money dorsum to students. However, they failed to inform students that these and then-called "refunds" were actually loans that they would exist required to pay back. Veterans and servicemembers also written report that Kaplan used loans instead of using military benefits.

  • Student T.T. from Minnesota reported that, subsequently graduation, he learned that Kaplan borrowed 23 loans in his name, of which he had not previously been aware.
  • Educatee A.U. from California reported that he was entitled to enough GI Bill money to cover the costs of his Kaplan plan. However, rather than wait for the authorities to disburse A.U.'due south GI Pecker money, Kaplan arranged loans to cover his costs.
  • Pupil Thousand.R. recalled that Kaplan did non use her GI Bill benefits, instead asking her to take out loans. K.R. recalls that she agreed to infringe federal loans and one private loan for $2,200. However, she later found out that a second private loan was taken out without her permission and the total private loan was really for $6000. Her private loans are growing chop-chop because of the high involvement rate and her disability to brand payments.
  • Student C.D. recalled that Kaplan did not explain the financial assistance procedure to him. As a result, he was very confused about his student loans. C.D. reports Kaplan took out loans on his behalf without his permission. To avoid incurring debt, C.D. had to affirmatively and formally reject the loans.
  • Student V.K. reported that Kaplan improperly borrowed money for multiple years at a time instead of borrowing coin at the start of each twelvemonth to cover her schoolhouse costs for that year. She as well reported that Kaplan borrowed more coin than she needed to cover her costs and sent the backlog money to her every bit "refund checks."
  • Student Due south.N. believed that her vocational rehabilitation benefits would cover the entire toll of her Kaplan plan. Still, she later on learned that Kaplan borrowed money on her behalf without her knowledge. She called Nelnet, her loan servicer, and a Nelnet representative told her that Kaplan had borrowed the maximum amount that South.N. was able to borrow. S.N. reports that the only financial aid document she signed was the FAFSA. " . . [Eastward]verything was supposed to be discounted, I don't recollect the exact per centum but I don't believe I got information technology. . . . I paid $750 for the books and that wasn't going to exist included in my voc rehab, and was paid for with loans which I idea at the fourth dimension were grants."
  • Educatee A.G. believed that the GI Bill would encompass the cost of his programme, but he believes Kaplan took out loans for him without his permission. He did not sign any paperwork, just somehow incurred $28,692 in debt. Besides, Kaplan sent him a refund cheque simply did not explicate where the coin had come from.
  • Student J.R. found information technology difficult to admission information nearly his Kaplan financial aid. Kaplan gave him a phone number to call to inquire questions nearly his loans, only the people who answered the phone did not speak English well. J.R. believes the number may have been for a telephone call eye.
  • Student F.L. shared that, based on representations made by Kaplan and its employees, she believed that the full price of her Kaplan programme would be approximately $35,000 to $40,000. Even so, she incurred approximately $55,000 to $lx,000 in debt, which she believes was because Kaplan borrowed more money on her behalf than she needed to cover her costs.
  • Student E.L. reported that, when he became ineligible for military educational activity benefits, he told Kaplan that he could not afford his tuition. Kaplan pressured him to borrow individual loans by calling him 14 times in one day. At Kaplan's behest, E.L. too spent $400 on textbooks that he was never required to employ.
  • Student J.C. said, "The school refused to send the caste to me due to a balance which shouldn't have existed due to armed services funding and payment. Also overcharged me for tuition and fees."
  • Educatee A.G.: "With using my GI Pecker and tuition assistance, I should accept not had any out-of-pocket expenses. The amount owed always rose in value."
  • Student M.K. explained, "My account has been a wreck for the past six months. They said it was their arrangement. They owe me $920 from a Pell Grant they took because they somehow didn't process my GI Beak for a semester so they used my grant. Their organisation shows they owe me nothing and I have fought with them for the past six months to fix this – to no effect."

Educatee Veteran Public Testimony:

Army veteran Sean Braunstein testified during the public comment for the Instruction Department'south negotiated rulemaking in January 2022. He explained that when he enrolled at Hesser College, which was owned by Kaplan, the admissions representative promised that the GI Bill would cover everything. He later on learned that the GI Nib benefits took "too long to come in" and so he would need to take out loans to cover tuition or run a risk being dropped from his classes. The school also somewhen told him that his benefits "did not embrace all the tuition, and actress loans were required." He ended upward with $fifty,000 in debt that he never intended to take out when he enrolled at the school. Read his testimony here.

American Military machine University

Student Veteran Complaints:

Two military-continued students at the American Armed services Academy (AMU, which is non, in fact, continued to the American armed forces), owned by the American Public University Organization (which is non, in fact, a public academy arrangement), told Veterans Educational activity Success that the schoolhouse took out loans in their names without their knowledge or permission. An additional seven veterans told us AMU misled them about what their GI Beak or Tuition Assistance benefits would cover and why they needed to accept on student loans. We have non previously published a study on AMU complaints.

  • Student C.B. attended AMU between 2014 and 2015 and specifically told the school when she enrolled that she did not want to have out any loans because she believed her GI Bill benefits would cover tuition. However, after leaving the school, she learned that she owed over $iv,000 in loans that she never wanted and never knew were taken out. "This is devastating on meridian of everything else…"
  • Educatee J.F., as a Petty Officer 2nd Class in the United States Navy, served in Bahrain as role of the Iraq War in 2005. After leaving the Navy, J.F. pursued a available's caste in criminal justice from AMU, which had assured J.F. that the GI Neb would completely cover the cost of his tuition. Afterwards enrolling in the plan, however, J.F. learned that the school misled him about the true cost of the program and he had difficulty tracking down any information related to his tuition bills. J.F. had no choice just to accept out student loans to encompass the bill for the remainder of his educational activity and is now saddled with $37,000 in debt.

Walden University

Student Public Testimony:

Joshua Blumm testified during the Oct 2021 public comment period of the Instruction Department'due south negotiated rulemaking. Mr. Blumm is the son of a Marine veteran and was told by Walden that he could utilize his father's benefits. They also convinced him to have out loans before the benefits were processed. The Section of Veterans Affairs later denied his request to use these benefits, and Mr. Blumm was left with $lx,000 in student loan debt that the school misled him into accruing. He explained:

"When I was enrolling at Walden University, I made it clear to them from day one that I intended to use my father'southward GI Nib benefits to pay for my tuition too as any student loan debt that I might accumulate in the process. Walden told me that I was eligible to utilize my father's GI Beak benefits at their school and even continued me with the Walden part that handles veteran certifications to go me signed upwards. Walden as well encouraged me to have out pupil loans via FAFSA as I waited for my benefits to kick in and said that I would be reimbursed past the VA at the end of my showtime year…. Walden's administrators deliberately misled me, completely pulling the wool over my eyes in lodge to get me to enroll. Now I have student loan debt totaling more than $sixty,000 and acrimony that they non only deceived me but also my male parent, who was simply trying to help me pursue something I was passionate about. At present he feels guilty because I have all of this debt. He is also angry that nosotros were deceived by the veterans' administrators at Walden, but especially because they were supposed to exist on his side — to say the least. I now know Walden has a history of this blazon of activity after I did some research on them online. That's why I'k asking you today to make certain colleges similar Walden cannot become away with misleading and lying to veterans and their families. Especially the administrators in their veterans' part."

Read Joshua Blumm's public comment for the Didactics Department's negotiated rulemaking here, and watch the video.

Lincoln Tech

Student Veteran Public Testimonies:

Jesus Abarca and Dylan Contrino are Marine Corps veterans who testified during the December 2021 public comment period of the Education Department's negotiated rulemaking coming together. Both enrolled in the welding plan at Lincoln Technical Institute's Mahwah Campus after the schoolhouse told them information technology was approved for GI Beak. After they enrolled, the schoolhouse claimed information technology was existence audited by the VA and that they would receive their GI Pecker funds soon. Months went past, and when their GI Bill funds nonetheless hadn't come, the school required them to take out student loans to cover the tuition. The schoolhouse assured them that the GI Pecker funds would come soon and they would be reimbursed. Later, Mr. Abarca and Mr. Contrino learned that the welding programme had never been canonical by the VA, and that their benefits were non coming. Both students had to use their savings and have out thousands of dollars in student loan debt because of the school's lies.

Mr. Abaraca said of his experience, "Nosotros learned that the welding plan hadn't been accredited by the VA and the schoolhouse enrolled us under false pretenses. They just wanted to get paid." Read his public comment for the Department'due south negotiated rulemaking here.

Mr. Contrino said that the school "didn't intendance that they put u.s. in debt and decimated our savings waiting for benefits – ones that we earned through our service – that would never come." Read his public annotate for the Section'south negotiated rulemaking here.

Policy Recommendations

We offer the following policy recommendations:

  1. In order to cease bad histrion schools from misleading veterans into loans they did not want, federal agencies[ane] should have action confronting any infraction, relying on educatee complaints and Borrower Defense force applications, whistleblower statements, and evidence from law enforcement and other authorities agencies – and should increment the fines. In addition, the Departments of Education, Veterans Affairs, and Defense force should educate schools about the problem of loans that students – especially students using veterans' education benefits – did not desire. Additionally, these departments should report whether loans are beingness used equally a recruitment tactic for students who take fully funded veterans educational activity benefits, and consider policies to prevent such abuses.
  2. In order to protect students from inadvertently signing documents for loans they practise non want, policymakers should:
    • It should instead be given a more attainable, common-sense name (or at least subtitle), such as "Student Loan Agreement," so that students understand they are signing a contract to repay a educatee loan, and should include a large image of a stop sign with a warning such every bit, "Cease: Practise not sign this unless yous want student loans. You will accept to pay back the loans."
    • For students who accept fully funded veterans education benefits, require almanac renewal of whatsoever Master Promissory Note (which is otherwise operational for x years), to ensure the students want new loans each twelvemonth; and require financial counseling regarding any loans (including the corporeality and repayment obligation) in the presence of a witness not connected with the institution.
  3. In order to provide veterans with the information they need well-nigh student loan s, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs should include student loan counseling in existing "fiscal literacy education" of servicemembers and veterans. Specifically, all servicemembers who are within a year of separation and veterans who are requesting a certificate of eligibility for their education benefits should be educated virtually their education benefits and the impact of student loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's "Paying for College" tool is one useful resource. Such teaching of servicemembers and veterans should include the fact that the GI Bill covers the full cost of attendance at all public colleges and universities in the state, regardless of state residency, which is an important fact that Congress fabricated possible in 2014 but which is non sufficiently known among veterans as they cull a higher. Congress should besides provide more than robust funding for educational activity counseling including funding for military educational activity officers to provide individual financial counseling for college educational activity.
  4. In order to provide veterans the information they need to choose a higher, VA'south GI Beak Comparison Tool and DoD'southward "TA Determine" must exist dramatically improved and then that veterans accept better information to make an informed college option. These tools should add a "hazard-index," wider use of caution flags, consumer protection warnings, and educatee result information from the Education Department'due south College Scorecard (which was removed), and should permit side-past-side comparisons of schools and searches based on field of study and geographic location. All pupil complaints should be reported on the GI Bill Comparison Tool and TA DECIDE, including redacted narrative portions. VA needs to restore older complaints and open complaints, which it hid during the Trump Assistants, as well as historical information about schools that closed, like ITT Tech, on the GI Bill Comparison Tool data dashboard.

[1] Several of these companies take sold some of their campus brands, and two have permanently ceased operations (ITT Tech in 2016 and Dream Center Education Holdings in 2019).

[2] Co-ordinate to our 2018 report, "Schools Receiving the Most Post-9/eleven GI Bill Tuition and Fee Payments Since 2009," half-dozen of these companies received $vi.1 billion in tuition and fee payments on behalf of GI Bill beneficiaries from 2009 through 2017.

[three] Co-ordinate to our 2020 report, "Schools with Repeat Police Enforcement Settlements," 7 of the companies in this report settled multiple lawsuits with federal or state government for misleading advertising and recruiting (ITT Educational Services, Career Education Corporation, Apollo Education Grouping, DeVry Instruction Group, Education Management Corporation, Bridgepoint Education, and Kaplan, Inc.).  In addition, American Public University System settled a lawsuit with the Massachusetts Chaser General in 2018 for failing to make required disclosures to students and for engaging in predatory enrollment tactics.

[four] The Department of Didactics has authority under the Higher Education Act to take activity against schools that appoint in substantial misrepresentations and other abuses of the federal pupil loan process; the Department of Veterans Affairs has an obligation under 38 United statesC. § 3696 to disapprove education programs that deceive or mislead veterans; and the Department of Defense has potency to disapprove schools from voluntary instruction programs if they violate its MOU, which includes a ban on substantial misrepresentations. In addition, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has legal authority to act against corporations that engage in deceptive advertizing or marketing practices, and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Agency has dominance to examine schools' lending practices and take enforcement activity for unfair, deceptive, and calumniating practices by schools or 3rd-party private loan providers.

VES Report - Veterans with Student Loans They Never Authorized or Wanted_03