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In 2012, President Barack Obama banned deceptive and aggressive recruiting tactics by for-profit colleges, so the University of Phoenix instead sponsors events at military bases to woo veterans – and their GI Bill money – to its educational programs.
The GI Bill does not require schools to be accredited. The loophole is meant to allow veterans to attend trade schools, but Reveal has found 2,000 schools cashing in, including ones that teach scuba diving, dog grooming and yoga.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reduced its chronic backlog of veterans’ disability claims, but so far, the agency is struggling to meet its self-imposed deadline of eliminating long wait times by 2015.
Behind Miller’s growing lobbying portfolio lies one of the biggest unexamined shifts in Washington’s influence game.
“The answer is: If it hasn’t been proven, it’s not something the VA should endorse,” says one agency official.
Senators 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.
While veterans supported Trump, the president has yet to nominate anyone to fill key leadership positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The program is failing at its most basic goals, with some veterans still waiting more than eight months to receive outside medical care.
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 former chief of staff of the Tomah VA Medical Center has agreed to permanently surrender his license to practice medicine in Wisconsin.
