
Senators want to examine military contracts with for-profit schools
Senators cite Reveal coverage in requesting sponsorship contracts, saying they are “deeply concerned.”
Fact-based journalism is worth fighting for.
DonateSenators cite Reveal coverage in requesting sponsorship contracts, saying they are “deeply concerned.”
The senators asked Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin to “immediately suspend” the proposed regulation.
The Trump administration wants to lift a law that prevents officials who administer the GI Bill from accepting money from for-profit colleges.
U.S. military officials granted special base access to University of Phoenix, according to documents released 817 days after Reveal requested them.
The proprietary schools – which include dozens of storefront beauty, computer and culinary operations – would have violated an anti-profiteering law were it not for a loophole that excludes the GI Bill and tuition assistance to active duty military.
The Pentagon has taken the University of Phoenix off probation, three months after suspending the for-profit school from its military financial aid program and from recruiting on military bases.
Using Veterans Day as a backdrop, the Obama administration announced its support for a bill that seeks to rein in for-profit schools that prey on veterans and military personnel eligible for the GI Bill and military tuition assistance programs.
Sen. John McCain stood by the University of Phoenix after the Defense Department put it on probation, claiming that the move was orchestrated by a lawmaker who has a record of not supporting the military. But the Arizona senator has been criticized for his own actions on veterans issues.
Veterans groups and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who have pressed for wider inquiries into for-profit schools, are defending the Defense Department’s decision to withhold new tuition assistance money from the University of Phoenix because of violations of military rules.
The Defense Department is reviewing a response from the University of Phoenix to the military’s decision to ban its recruiters from military facilities and suspend it from enrolling more military personnel under the tuition assistance program, even as Republican senators came to the for-profit school’s defense.