[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 38 (Thursday, March 8, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1541-S1542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WEBB (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Brown of Massachusetts, 
        Mr. Carper, and Mrs. McCaskill):
  S. 2179. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
oversight of educational assistance provided under laws administered by 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, today, I am introducing The Military and 
Veterans Educational Reform Act of 2012. This bi-partisan bill will 
ensure that all educational institutions receiving

[[Page S1542]]

funding from the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Tuition Assistance educational 
programs are governed by the appropriate quality standards.
  I am pleased to be joined in this initiative by Senators Harkin, 
Carper, McCaskill and Senator Scott Brown.
  I have been working on this legislation for several months. It 
includes many recommendations made by Veterans service organizations, 
military organizations and various GAO reports on the need to improve 
the accountability and oversight of educational institutions.
  This past year marked the second-year anniversary of the 
implementation of the landmarks Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which I introduced 
on my first day in office. I take pride in saying that we have been 
able to provide the proper investment in the future of those who, since 
9/11, have given so much to this country.
  History demonstrates clearly that well educated veterans not only 
have an easier transition and readjustment experience, but also boast 
higher income levels and enjoy a better quality of life.
  Since 2009, more than 1.1 million servicemembers and veterans have 
applied to receive their new benefits and nearly 700,000 have received 
benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
  For these reasons, I believe that we in the Congress need to do all 
we can to ensure that we are preserving the integrity of the greatest 
GI Bill our veterans and military members have ever had.
  Concern with waste in the for-profit sector is not a new issue. If we 
look back in history, 5 years following the creation of the World War 
II GI Bill in 1944, we saw that more than 5,000 for-profit schools were 
created. Many of these schools had questionable outcomes and catered 
exclusively to veterans.
  The World War II GI Bill was almost derailed because of the thousands 
of for-profit colleges created overnight targeting veterans. Due to the 
concern with the reported waste and abuse in the system, the Vietnam GI 
Bill tuition provision became a flat monthly stipend.
  Recent data shows that 8 of the 10 largest recipients of Post-9/11 GI 
Bill benefits are for-profit institutions. Many of these schools have 
more than doubled the amount of Post-9/11 GI Bill dollars they received 
from 2009 2011.
  The growth in this sector has been tremendous in the past couple of 
years. Between 1998 and 2008, for-profit schools grew 225 percent.
  Last month, the Department of Defense released new data showing that 
for-profit colleges received half of all military tuition assistance 
dollars--$280 million out of $563 million spent last year on this 
program.
  In 2009, the 15 publicly traded for-profit education companies spent 
$3.7 billion on marketing. A disproportionate share of this money is 
going to marketing and recruitment of veterans into poorly performing 
for-profit schools, and the results of the Veteran's Administration 
data on the GI Bill reflect this.
  The problem is not necessarily the growth of the for-profit sector. 
There are some for-profit institutions that are providing our students 
a great education. But with huge Federal dollars being spent in this 
sector, we owe it to the taxpayers and to our veterans to carefully 
monitor and provide adequate oversight. Even more important, we owe it 
to the men and women who served that the GI benefits they have earned 
will not be lost or squandered on an education that fails to equip them 
with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful.
  In light of these issues, I have introduced the Military and Veterans 
Educational Reform Act of 2012. My legislation requires schools 
participating in educational assistance programs through the Department 
of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to meet the same 
educational standards currently required for other federal funding, 
such as the Pell Grant. This bill strengthens the responsibilities of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense to assist 
individuals in making an informed decision to further their continued 
academic success.
  This legislation will increase transparency of information about 
educational institutions, provide critical services to assist students 
in the decision-making process and throughout their career, and promote 
interagency information sharing by requiring all programs receiving 
funding from Tuition Assistance and Post-9/11 GI Bill be Title IV 
eligible. Title IV eligibility strengthens the requirements programs 
must meet in order to receive Federal funding.
  By also increasing the transparency of educational institutions by 
requiring them to provide information to potential students on 
graduation rates, default rates, and other critical information to 
ensure that individuals have the information necessary in choosing the 
best academic program.
  By expanding the training and outreach responsibilities of the State 
Approving Agencies by requiring them to conduct outreach activities to 
veterans and members of the Armed Forces, requiring State Approving 
Agencies to conduct audits of schools and to report those findings to 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
  By requiring that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 
of Defense develop a centralized complaints process for individuals to 
report instances of misrepresentation, fraud, waste and abuse and other 
complaints against educational institutions.
  By requiring that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 
of Defense provide counseling to individuals before they use their 
benefits.
  By increasing greater coordination between the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, the Department of Defense and the Department of Education by 
requiring information sharing among these agencies.
  This is a bill that I hope both sides of the aisle will support. It 
not only aims at preserving the greatest educational benefits for our 
veterans and military students but it also ensures that our Federal 
dollars are being spent on quality education.
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