Although the U.S. often prides itself on its education system, it seems to be failing or forgetting a crucial segment of the American population: our veterans.
For-profit schools have been accused by the Obama administration and advocacy groups of conning GI Bill money from returning veterans by luring them to enroll with misleading marketing. In return, these schools have brought in enormous profits.
It is the responsibility of the federal government, as well as public universities, to inform our population ““ and especially our veterans ““ and protect them from exploitation. Our public institutions should take it upon themselves to provide veterans with a quality and affordable education, not only as their moral responsibility, but also to help our veterans avoid the debt traps of seeking a for-profit degree.
The GI Bill, paid for by tax dollars, makes veterans who served in any branch of the military after 9/11 eligible for highly subsidized college tuition, among other benefits for all veterans, such as coverage of mortgage payments.
For-profit schools receive a disproportionate amount of GI benefits ““ according to a recent Senate committee study, for-profit schools receive 37 percent of GI funds, but enroll only 25 percent of student veterans.
For-profit schools, such as Bridgepoint Education and Kaplan University, are privately owned, often technically focused schools.
While some for-profits can serve as gateways to state schools or careers, many of these institutions have a record of providing insufficient education and awarding students credits that cannot be transferred elsewhere.
Because of a loophole in the GI Bill, the benefits it provides are not classified as federal aid. For-profit schools’ “90-10 rule” caps the revenue they receive from federal coffers at 90 percent, therefore making supposedly “non-federal” revenue from the GI Bill a lucrative prospect.
A proposed bill called Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers, or POST Act, would close this loophole, and revert for-profits’ cap to the original 85-15 ratio. Passing the POST act would be a positive step toward fair funding of for-profits and a step away from its predatory targeting of veterans.
Not only is this abuse an injustice to our veterans, but a waste of taxpayer money, intended to create opportunities for men and women who have just come home from war.
To respond to this problem, public schools like UCLA should be making even more of a concerted effort to provide veterans with the resources and conduits to a quality state-funded education.
As a large and prestigious public institution, UCLA and other UC campuses have the power and the moral imperative to reach out to worthy and underrepresented students, veterans being no exception.
While it is not expressly the job of systems like to UC to solve the for-profit problem, they should still work to create a more visible avenue that veterans may benefit from.
By actively recruiting veterans, more taxpayer money will be reinvested in public schools, and more veterans will receive the quality education they deserve.
“These students have already given a portion of their life to this country,” said Edward Gurrola, the Veterans Resource Office coordinator in the Bruin Resource Center.
And when they come home, they should be received with a support system to encourage their education, he said.
UCLA provides readily available services and attention to military personnel ““ the Veterans Resource Office, for example, features a “Boots to Bruins” course, to help with their transition to college, Gurrola said.
The UCLA Admissions office already provides specialized veteran assistance and the Veterans Resource Office conducts various community college and college fair visits.
However, UCLA can implement more specialized recruitment geared to soldiers still on active duty. For example, admissions officers or representatives can visit bases, or can engage in phone banks to active duty members in an honest, transparent way, to avoid the same predatory tactics of for-profit publicity.
If soldiers see UCLA or other state schools as a viable option before returning from their service, they can avoid the mountainous debt and weaker degrees offered by for-profit schools.
Email Ferdman at mferdman@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to opinion@media.ucla.edu or tweet us @DBOpinion .