Congress, Pentagon must keep eye on for-profit schools targeting troops - Marine Corps Community, discussions, blogs, photos & video - Marine Corps Times

Congress, Pentagon must keep eye on for-profit schools targeting troops

Well before the current congressional fervor for rooting out wasteful government spending took hold, concern had been rising about possible misuse of military tuition assistance.

That concern was sparked by a government report released late last summer that found some for-profit colleges use high-pressure tactics to enroll students in courses that may not help them get ahead in their chosen fields.

That’s a particular concern for the military. Many for-profits are mostly or totally online — and troops increasingly are flocking to those schools because of the flexibility they offer. In fact, of the 10 schools with the most service members using tuition assistance, five are for-profits.

Yet the Pentagon has never monitored how tuition assistance money is used. And it’s a lot of money — $517 million last year.

To their credit, defense officials are now swiftly crafting rules to tighten oversight of schools that draw tuition assistance money, particularly online, for-profit schools.

A new Web-based complaint form will enable troops to report — and the Pentagon to track — alleged problems with specific schools. And defense officials vow to crack down on school recruiters who harass troops, charge excessive fees or fail to provide sufficient support for students.

Not unexpectedly, some online schools are grumbling about what they see as a push to restrict student choice.

Certainly, students should be free to pursue personal education goals. But this is still taxpayer money, and the Pentagon has a duty to see that it isn’t wasted. Schools that do right by students have nothing to worry about.

Once the new policies take effect later this year, defense officials and Congress must closely monitor any violations, and move aggressively to deal with schools that don’t play fair with troops.