Teutopolis, IL-(Effingham Radio)- Veterans from across the country will travel to the nation’s capital to meet with officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Education, and on Capitol Hill to help inform the government’s thinking about how predatory colleges take advantage of student veterans and their hard-earned education benefits.
The “Veterans Voices” event is being sponsored by Veterans Education Success, a bipartisan, non-profit organization that has been working to ensure the promise and integrity of the GI Bill® and other federal education benefits.
Veterans Education Success is holding this event so that veterans can share their school experiences and highlight the importance of protecting veterans and the GI Bill. The veterans coming to Washington attended low quality programs and were treated unconscionably by their schools, sometimes with devastating consequences. They will have opportunities to speak with federal policymakers across the government.
City |
State |
School |
Branch |
School Experience |
Public Remarks |
Los Angeles | CA | University of Phoenix | Army | Alphi served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 2002-2013. She attended the University of Phoenix, which aggressively recruited her, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. There, her course requirements and tuition constantly changed, and, although the school told her a University of Phoenix education would help her professionally, that has not turned out to be true. Alphi spent her entire GI Bill and took out substantial loans to complete her education. Alphi lives in Los Angeles, California. | Remarks to the Department of Education |
Panama City | FL | AVTECH Institute of Technology | Air Force | Doug served in the U.S. Air Force from 1987-1990. Doug says AVTECH Institute of Technology promised to provide all the training and certifications needed for him to obtain a job in the Information Technology field through the VA’s VRRAP program. After he enrolled, the school changed its class schedule from 20 hours per week to 3-4 hours per week. The training was mostly YouTube videos he could have watched for free, and the school only included one certification exam instead of the seven promised. The school also did not provide him any job placement assistance. Doug lives in Panama City, Florida. | N/A |
Twin Falls | ID | University of Phoenix | Coast Guard | Toma served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1992-1996 and 1999-2007. He received a degree in Health Care Administration from the University of Phoenix. The school made a lot of promises in an aggressive sales pitch. Toma says the school did not provide a quality education and did not provide any help with finding a job. Even though he used GI Bill benefits, he ended up with federal student loans, which were finally forgiven earlier this year through the Department of Education’s Borrower Defense to Repayment program. Toma lives in Twin Falls, Idaho. | Interview with the Idaho Statesman |
Teutopolis | IL | DeVry | Air Force | Laquita served in the U.S. Air Force from 1992-1995. She graduated from Devry University with a bachelor’s degree in Business, with a focus on Human Resources. Although she had two associate’s degrees and prior college credits, Laquita says Devry required her to take introductory classes, which cost her more than she would have otherwise had to pay, and told her she was receiving a grant when they actually took out loans on her behalf. They also provided no meaningful job placement help. She lives in Teutopolis, Illinois. | N/A |
Detroit | MI | Full Sail | Navy | Quenton Ross is a disabled Navy veteran. He received a bachelor’s degree in Recording Arts and a Master’s degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. Quenton says that Full Sail failed to deliver on its promises of a state-of-the-art education; some of the instructors did not know enough to teach the classes and just taught from a Powerpoint. The school convinced him to complete his Master’s because he couldn’t find a job in his field with his bachelor’s degree, but he has never had a job connected to his degrees. He exhausted his GI Bill benefits and had substantial federal student loans from Full Sail, which were finally forgiven through the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Program. Quenton lives in Detroit, Michigan. | Remarks to the Department of Education |
Lilburn | GA | ITT Tech | Army | Brian served in the U.S. Army from 2000-2005. He earned his associate degree from ITT Tech in Computer and Electrical Engineering. Brian said ITT Tech made promises about the likelihood of finding a job and about earning potential, but he has never been able to get a job in his field of study. Even though ITT Tech said Brian’s GI Bill would cover everything, he had to take out federal and private student loans to finish his degree on top of using his GI Bill. Brian now lives in Lilburn, Georgia. | Remarks to the Department of Education |
Heartland | TX | Walden | Navy | Ashley served in the U.S. Navy as an engineer and mechanic from 2009-2012. She attended Walden University, where she pursued her doctorate in social work. Walden misled Ashley about how long her degree would take, dragged out her dissertation phase, and provided a low quality education. Ashley withdrew from Walden to complete her degree elsewhere, but not before she had used up her GI Bill and took out substantial student loans. She lives in Heartland, Texas. | Remarks to the Department of Education |
Jersey Village | TX | Westwood | Army | In 2009, Richard, a U.S. Army veteran, began to pursue his bachelor’s degree in software engineering at Westwood College, an online school. He says the education at Westwood was virtually nonexistent, and he left before completing the degree. Richard had used up his GI Bill and taken out substantial student loans by the time he withdrew from Westwood. He lives in Jersey Village, Texas. | N/A |
Mansfield | TX | Art Institute | Army | Mike served in the U.S. Army from 2005-2019, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant. Mike enrolled in culinary management at the Art Institute. Mike says there was very little engagement with faculty and no hands-on learning at the Art Institute. The school suddenly shut down when he had only two classes remaining, and he was left stranded, having wasted his time, money, and GI Bill benefits and without a lot of options. Mike lives in Mansfield, Texas. | Remarks to the Department of Education |
William Hubbard, Vice President for Veterans & Military Policy at Veterans Education Success is frequently called to testify before Congress on various topics related to higher education and veterans. Previously, Hubbard served as Vice President of Government Affairs and Chief of Staff for Student Veterans of America, and is a Marine Corps Veteran.
Della Justice, Vice President for Legal Affairs at Veterans Education Success and former Assistant Attorney General for Kentucky, led multi-state investigations into predatory practices of certain colleges.
Veterans Education Success is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance higher education success for veterans, service members, and military families and to protect the integrity and promise of the GI Bill® and other federal postsecondary education programs. The organization offers free help, advice, and college and career counseling for the GI Bill. It helps servicemembers and veterans share their experience and insights with policymakers and the public. Veterans Education Success also provides non-partisan policy expertise to federal and state policymakers and conducts non-partisan research on issues of concern to student veterans.
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