How Veterans Can Go Back To School on the GI Bill Without Getting Defrauded

This is not a subject on which I have published on in the past, but it is important: American veterans going back to school with their GI Bill benefits without getting defrauded.

In this piece, Mike Saunders, director of military and consumer policy at the advocacy group Veterans Education Success, provides detailed help and explains the system that allows veterans to still get cheated.

Veterans Education Success is an organization that works to help veterans, service members and military families go to college successfully, and to protect federal education programs, including the GI Bill.

The GI Bill, formally known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, provides a range of benefits to veterans.

By Mike Saunders

Transitioning out of the military is a stressful time for any service member. When you are on active duty, it seems like there is a resource for any questions you might have, but when you leave, you need to find the answers to your questions on your own.

Whether you are trying to navigate Veterans Affairs, going back to school or going to work for a civilian employer, you have to immediately know what questions to ask, and where to go to find answers.

When it comes to using your federal education benefits, you need to have a plan: not only regarding what you want to do when you graduate, but also what you should avoid. This involves doing research before you decide where to go to school. It is absolutely crucial to take this step, because you get only one chance at correctly using your education benefits like the GI Bill.

Unfortunately, some schools have been found to lie to veterans because they want the GI Bill. They’ve lied about your job prospects, whether you can transfer credits, and whether the GI Bill will cover all the cost of attending.

Accrediting agencies, state governments and the federal government each issue their own uncoordinated set of requirements governing the calculation and provision of employment metrics, making meaningful comparison across programs and colleges nearly impossible for experts, let alone students.

Worse, the Department of Education has removed the “threshold earning rate” from the College Scorecard, which measured the share of former students who received federal financial aid who earned at least $28,000 six years after entering college. It is also eliminating requirements that colleges share job placement rates and financial stability rates with prospective students.

Original Article Published Here: How Veterans Can Go Back To School on the GI Bill Without Getting Defrauded