A Military Uniform Deserves Respect

The risks and sacrifices that come with military service to our country deserve admiration and respect. Unfortunately, this is not always what our veterans, active military members, and their families receive. In fact, because of a loophole in the law, for-profit colleges have a huge financial incentive to potentially exploit veterans and some members of their families.

In 2008, the legislature passed a G.I. Bill, meant to benefit veterans serving since September 11th by authorizing subsidies for them to seek college degrees. This was meant to repay veterans for their service and sacrifice by allowing them to attend a college of their choice. Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished as for-profit colleges quickly found a loophole in an existing law to exploit the G.I. Bill. Referred to as the 90/10 rule, this loophole allows for-profit colleges to count G.I. Bill money in order to get more federal funding from the Department of Education. So for every $1 a college like DeVry receives from G.I. Bill funding, it can claim an additional $9 from the Department of Education.

Each year, the Department of Education releases a report which lays out how much federal funding for-profit colleges receive. In the fiscal year ending in June 2015, DeVry’s 90/10 revenues made up 65.59% of the college’s total revenues, for over $500 million. This means that DeVry made half a BILLION dollars from federal funds in just one year. It is no wonder then, that DeVry and so many other for-profit colleges spend obscene amounts of money to advertise to service members. In fact, when the FTC filed a federal lawsuit against DeVry for deceptive advertising, it noted that “current and former members of the military” were among those targeted by the deceptive ads.

Holly Petraeus, the one-time assistant director for service member affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times in which she stated that the 90/10 loophole “gives for-profit colleges an incentive to see service members as nothing more than dollar signs in uniform, and to use aggressive marketing to draw them in and take out private loans, which students often need because the federal grants are insufficient to cover the full cost of tuition and related expenses.”

Are you an active member of the military or a veteran? Did you attend DeVry in the last five years for the promise of better employment opportunities and higher pay? Did you know that even if you received money from DeVry’s FTC settlement, you may still be entitled to additional monetary damages? The attorneys at Moss Bollinger are here to fight for you. Since 2008, we have stood up for the rights of consumers and employees against big businesses. Let us stand up for your rights. Call us today at (310) 982-2291 for a free consultation or reach us online.