Senators to DoD: Back off rules for TA schools - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Senators to DoD: Back off rules for TA schools

Pressure is mounting on the Pentagon to abandon a new tuition assistance oversight scheme that has dozens of top schools threatening to withdraw from the military’s education program for active-duty troops.

In a rare bipartisan move, more than 52 senators signed a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urging him to delay the new Tuition Assistance rules, which are slated to take effect Jan. 1.

The rules require all schools accepting Tuition Assistance money to sign an agreement that includes a promise to be flexible about transferring credits from other schools, granting academic credit for military training, and limiting full-time residency requirements to accommodate troops who frequently move.

Many schools, including many Ivy League schools and top public research universities, are refusing to sign the agreement because they want to retain complete control over those academic decisions. Schools that refuse to sign the agreement would be off limits for troops seeking to use their TA benefits.

The new Pentagon rules were designed to address concerns that some for-profit schools, many offering online-only degrees, are taking advantage of troops and their taxpayer-funded benefits. Other elements of the agreement include a requirement that schools provide the Defense Department with status updates on individual students and that schools agree to periodic reviews by outside experts.

“While we applaud your efforts to fight fraud and abuse against members of the armed services, we believe that changes need to be made to the [TA agreement] in order to avoid a significant disruption in the provision of education benefits and to make critical improvements to its content,” the senators wrote in the letter dated Dec. 8.

“We have strong concerns that your intent to ensure quality education for members of the armed forces may be undermined by moving forward with the [TA agreement] as drafted, as it fails to address many of the key issues facing our military students and at the same time discourages institutions from continuing to participate in the TA program.

“We believe the [TA agreement] was drafted in such a way as to infringe on the educational integrity and academic plans of our nation’s colleges and universities.”

The lawmakers called on Panetta to scrap the existing rules that were first unveiled in March and rewrite them in way that provides “proper safeguards against fraud, waste and abuse, strengthens oversight and, most importantly, ensures that service members can choose the best institution that meets their academic and training needs.”