Some of the schools that receive the most Post-9\/11 GI Bill money spend the least on teaching students, a new report suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study, conducted by the nonprofit group Veterans Education Success, analyzed more than 4,600 higher-education institutions and found that in 2017, 427 of those schools spent less than 30 percent of their gross tuition dollars on instruction, according to VES. That\u2019s about $980 million in GI Bill money that went toward costs other than directly educating student veterans, VES estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs it appropriate for colleges to charge taxpayers for GI Bill funds but then divert those funds away from veterans\u2019 actual education?\u201d asked VES President Carrie Wofford during a Capitol Hill briefing on the report Thursday. \u201cAnd does Congress owe it to veterans and taxpayers to more carefully guard veterans\u2019 earned benefits?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three schools receiving the most GI Bill money nationwide from fiscal year 2009 through fiscal year 2017 \u2013 University of Phoenix, DeVry University and Strayer University, all of which are for-profit schools \u2013 spent only 15.3 percent, 12.4 percent and 10.9 percent respectively of their overall revenue on instruction in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But some schools are pushing back on the report, saying that its definition of \u201cinstruction\u201d doesn\u2019t make sense for the online schools many veterans attend. A spokeswoman for Strayer parent company Strategic Education Inc. told Rebootcamp in an email that, as a mostly online school, Strayer must make significant IT investments that aren\u2019t counted as \u201cinstruction\u201d spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, spokeswoman Elaine Kincel said that other schools\u2019 \u201cinstruction\u201d numbers are inflated based on academic research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs Strayer University is not a research institution, it reports only direct instructional expenses,\u201d Kincel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The VES study defines \u201cinstruction\u201d in line with the Education Department\u2019s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Outcome Measures Survey, including funds for academic and training essentials like providing classes and professors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It notably does not include investments in academic support or student services in that definition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study used data from the Education Department\u2019s IPEDS Outcome Measures Survey, the 2016-17 IPEDS Finance Survey, the College Scorecard database and VA\u2019s records of schools\u2019 GI Bill tuition and fee payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VES calculated how much of a school\u2019s GI Bill revenue is going toward teaching and learning by dividing the total amount schools spent on instruction by the total amount they received in tuition and fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to analyzing GI Bill revenue, the report also looked at schools\u2019 success graduating their students within eight years of enrolling and whether those graduates were making more or less than $28,000 a year \u2014 what the average U.S. high school graduate makes \u2014 within six years of entering a college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VES concluded that seven of the top 10 schools receiving GI Bill funds failed to graduate more than 50 percent of their students. It also found that only about 47 percent of GI Bill students at those schools were earning more than $28,000 a year within six years of starting school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The worst schools \u2014 or the ones the VES dubbed the \u201cbottom of the barrel\u201d \u2014 for allocating GI Bill money for instruction were all for-profits: Colorado Technical University, American Intercontinental University and Capella University, all of which spent less than 10 percent of their gross revenue on instruction in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For context, the study noted that health insurance companies are required to spend 80 percent of patient premiums on improving the quality of patient care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VES did point out quite a few schools that were putting a large portion of their GI Bill tuition revenue toward instruction. That group included some of the country\u2019s most prestigious institutions, like Yale University and Stanford University, as well as schools that grant lower-level degrees, like Bismarck State College and Lakeshore Technical College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study also spotlighted a few for-profit schools with high completion rates and post-graduate salaries that are also using most of their GI Bill tuition money toward instruction, like Professional Golfers Career College, Fox College and Swedish Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wofford said that GI Bill benefits are designed to be not only a reward for veterans service but also an investment by the government in their future success after the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are no rules on how a college spends the money once they receive it,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I think Congress may be surprised what many of these institutions are doing with it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A University of Phoenix spokesman questioned the study, saying the data it focuses on \u201cfails in many respects to represent the full fabric of the university and the academic quality of our programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUniversity of Phoenix strongly supports a constructive, fact-based policy discussion about student outcomes,\u201d he said. \u201cUnfortunately, this report does not get us there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Military Times Deputy Editor Leo Shane III contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The three schools receiving the most GI Bill money nationwide from fiscal year 2009 through fiscal year 2017 \u2013 University of Phoenix, DeVry University and Strayer University, all of which are for-profit schools \u2013 spent only 15.3 percent, 12.4 percent and 10.9 percent respectively of their overall revenue on instruction in 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":97896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,12,25,19,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3148],"class_list":["post-64161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"WLNCMPBU4JCRPF5MKQCEYZSTDU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/education\/2019\/04\/18\/are-the-schools-that-get-the-most-gi-bill-money-spending-the-least-on-teaching\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n