{"id":29774,"date":"2019-02-19T16:41:34","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T16:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/19\/vet-groups-are-blasting-trumps-education-secretary-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:09:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:09:54","slug":"vet-groups-are-blasting-trumps-education-secretary-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2019\/02\/19\/vet-groups-are-blasting-trumps-education-secretary-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Vet groups are blasting Trump\u2019s education secretary. Here\u2019s why."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veterans\u2019 education benefits are being undermined by the federal government, according to officials with two prominent advocacy organizations focused on student veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a New York Times op-ed<\/a> this week, the groups write that President Trump\u2019s education secretary, Betsy DeVos<\/a>, has \u201celected to eviscerate student protections and quality controls for colleges \u2014 particularly those governing the often low-quality, predatory for-profit colleges that target veterans in their marketing schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeVos has come under criticism for her ties to the for-profit sector \u2014 and her lack of experience in government and public education \u2014 since her nomination as education secretary, and she has overseen efforts to undo Obama-era higher education rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, despite significant opposition from vets groups<\/a> and others, DeVos eliminated a rule that held for-profit colleges accountable for their graduates\u2019 ability to find gainful employment. James Schmeling, executive vice president of Student Veterans of America, and Carrie Wofford, president of Veterans Education Success, write that the secretary has also fought, and is now stalling, a rule that clarified how students defrauded by schools could seek loan forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeVos also recently reinstated the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools<\/a>, or ACICS, which her predecessors had stopped recognizing because they said it did too little to hold schools accountable. Among those schools were the Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute, which each closed suddenly, in 2015 and 2016 respectively, leaving thousands of student veterans in the lurch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their demise, which left students stranded with substantial student debt and credits that other schools may not recognize, became the impetus for a provision in the new Forever GI Bill <\/a>law that restores education benefits<\/a> to veteran victims of abrupt school closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\t