... -significantlyraise the pricetagto the Americantaxpayerwithoutyielding the anticipatedgain for militarymembers and theirfamilies.Notonlyare the militaryeducationalbenefitsflowingto the for- profitschoolsoutpacing the overallrevenuegrowth of thoseschools, the militaryrevenuegrowth of the companiesisalsooutpacing the spendinggrowthin the VA and DoDeducationprograms.Between2009 and 2010, the totalmilitaryrevenues for the for- profitschoolsincreasedby211percent,but the over-allbudgetsoutlays for the VA and DoDeducationalbenefitsincreasedbyonly112percent.Whilepassage of the Post-9/11GIBillisakeyreason for the increaseinfundingflowingto for- profitschools,fundsfrom the DoDprogramsarealsoincreasingrapidly.Thisisatrendthatislikelytocontinuegiven the recruitingfocusthathasbeenbroughtto the eligiblepopulations of activedutyservicemembers and families, and the recognitionby the for- profiteducationcompaniesthatTuitionAssistancebenefitscanbesupplementedbyhavingservicemembersaccessPost-9/11GIbenefitsinmanycases. The MyCAAspouseeligibilityprogrammayaccount for asignificantportion of the growthinDepartment of Defensedollars, and mayslowwith the eligibilitychangesimplementedbyDoD.However,because the cost of attendingmany for- profitschools,evenwithmilitarydiscountsprovidedby the schools,oftenexceeds the $250percredithourpaymentavailablethrough the TuitionAssistanceprogram,manyactivedutyservicemembersmaybesupplementingtheirTuitionAssistancebenefitswithPost9-11GI-Billbenefitsthrough the Top-Upprogramtocover the costdifference.Asaresult,both the number of activedutyservicemembersattending for- profitschools and the DoDprogramdollarsarelikelytocontinuetoincrease.Eighteencompaniesthatprovideddocumentsto the HELPCommitteedifferentiatedrevenuesfrom the Department of VeteransAffairs and the Department of Defense for the entireperiod2006through2010.Inthatperiod,Department of Defenseeducationalbenefitspaidtotheseschoolsincreasedfrom$40millionin2006toanexpected$175.1millionin2010,a337.4percentincrease.Department of VeteransAffairseducationalbenefitspaidtotheseschoolsincreasedmorethantenfoldfrom$26.3millionin2006toanexpected$285.8millionin Of ... -infederalloansfromSallieMaetoattend. The veteranwastoldthat the schoolwasaccredited and thathiscreditswouldtransferifhewantedtopursueamastersdegree.Afterenrolling,hebecamedisappointedwith the quality of education and saidthatmanystudentswerenotengaged and didnotcompletetheirwork,butthattheyalwaysreceivedpassinggrades.Oneteacherpulled the veteranaside and toldhim the schooldidnotprovideaqualityeducation and thatheshouldenrollinabetterschool.Atthatpoint,hehadearned52credits.Whenhewenttotransfertoapublic,non-profitinstitutionhefoundoutthatnone of the creditswouldtransfer.Hemade the difficultdecisionstostartover and ispursuinghisengineeringdegreeatafour-yearpublicinstitution,butwithhisGIbillbenefitspartiallydepleted and with the debtincurredat the for- profitschoolshangingoverhisfuture.23Moreover,therearemanyunansweredquestionsabouthowthosewhodocompletetheircourse of studyat for- profitschoolswillfareinfindingemploymentatanincreasedwage.AtarecentHouseArmedServicesCommittee’sOversight and InvestigationsSubcommitteehearing,awitnessfromDoDquestioned the quality of degreesearnedthroughdistancelearning,many of whichareawardedby for- profitcolleges.24Itisunclearthatemployerswillalwaysgiveveteranswith for- profitdegrees the employmentopportunitytheymaydeserve.Whiledefaultrates and repaymentratesarenotentirelyabletoanswerquestionsabouthowemployersview the quality of different for- profitdegrees,especially for servicemembers and veteranswhomayhavealowerornonexistentloanburden,abilitytorepayisonemeasure of the marketvalue of adegree.Itisnoteworthythatfour of the five for- profitschoolsreceiving the mostPost-9/11GIBillfundingin the firstyearhaveloanrepaymentrates of only31percentto37percent. The samefourschoolshaveatleastonecampuswithastudentloandefaultrateabove24percentoverthreeyears.Itisin the nation’sintereststoensurethatDoD and VAbenefitsareprovidingqualityhighereducation, and the economicadvancementthataccompaniesittothisnewgeneration of Americanswhohaveputtheirliveson the linein the defense of ourcountry.Butlegitimatequestionsexistastowhetherspendingmilitarybenefitsatsome for- profitschoolsisachieving the resultssought.AClose-UpLookatIncreasingMilitaryFundsatThree For- ProfitEducationCompaniesTobetterunderstand the dramaticimpactthatchangesto the DoD and VAprogramshavehadon the amount of fundingflowingto for- profitschools,itishelpfultolookatthreeindividualeducationcompanies.23MajoritystafftelephoneinterviewwithJasonLongmore,November12,2010.24AQuestion of Quality and Value:Department of DefenseOversight of TuitionAssistanceUsed for DistanceLearning and For- ProfitColleges before the HouseOversight and Investigations Subcomm. of ... Given the troublingoutcomesdocumentedatmany for- profitschools, the problematicrecruitingpractices, the highcost of for- profitprograms, and the disparateshare of federalmilitaryeducationaldollarsflowingto for- profitschools,Congress,togetherwith the Department of VeteransAffairs and the Department of Defense,needstoactnowtoensurethatservicemembers and veteranssee the educationalresultsthatCongressenvisioned.-...