Veteran students will not get back any of the VA benefits they've used at ITT. This is a VA rule. Unlike other students, there is NO loan forgiveness for Veterans! My Veterans are very angry at the DoE! They want to be at our campus! No one has forced them to stay! How unfair that they will loose it all. As for compliance.... At our campus, we are by the book. We have forms for every single thing and we do NOT inflate grades! We work hard to place our students in careers and we provide a variety of Student Professional Experience all along the way. We are also holding weekly study sessions where the students come to in order that they prep for many industry certifications. This is in addition to the regular curriculum.
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Given the current population we serve, i had issues pushing students to complete a SPE/Internships opportunities. Probably because the majority of them are working full-time, have families, and of course attending school. i never understood why the "National Career Services" team at HQ didn't set up internships sites with national employers across the country. my particular school has been open for more than ten years, however the Career Services team prior to me also didn't established internship sites. since i stepped into my role, this was something i tried to work on, however its been a difficult journey. in hindsight, i wish HQ would provide us with more workforce development tools. promoting high earning jobs to these people puts a lot of pressure on career services. its hard to tell people that their lack of experience and certifications will most like place them in $15 to $20 hour job.
It's not just the tuition benefit they have to worry about. Students on the GI Bill will also be immediately cut off from the monthly food and housing stipend many of them rely on to cover bills while they are in school full time. When Corinthian shut down, main stream media didn't cover the stories of Veterans that were suddenly homeless because they could not afford rent.
Just like the current shameful situation going on at VA hospitals, it is another area where the government has failed our heros. Vets need more than a "caution flag" on the website (that few of them even use anyway) to make the risks of enrolling at a school like ITT clear. There is legislation being pushed forward to reinstate GI Bill benefits on par with student loan forgiveness, but it still doesn't address the immediate, emergency situation these students find themselves in. According to the VA website, in 2014, over 10,000 students were attending ITT on the GI Bill. That's 20% of total enrollment. Why? Because they were targeted due to a loophole in government rules about maximum funding from federal aid. The GI Bill doesn't count, so it's an easy way to recruit students without concerns about annual tuition.
Unfortunately, employers don't concern themselves with the efforts of individual campuses. The ITT brand has a bad name and Student Professional Experience doesn't hold weight when it is organized in conjunction with an institution known for inflating grades and mandating attendance policies that encourage professors to "babysit" their students. No one is going to call and remind an employee he or she needs to show up to work. Certificates are the only aspect that will show technical knowledge worthy of employment, but doesn't that speak to the quality of the degree in and of itself?
The situation is awful and in some cases dire for Veterans attending ITT and it is even more unfortunate that the school operates on an academic calendar that will prevent most students from enrolling in classes again immediately, leaving Veterans that depend on the housing allowance the most vulnerable. However, the status quo would have left even more Veterans starting classes vulnerable to the same situation. In the meantime, there is a grant program for Veterans in this situation. Maybe this will finally force the VA to take action on the issue, similar to the loan forgiveness programs for students with Title VII loans, or at least find a better way to warn Veterans about the risks associated with attending college at any publicly traded corporation where shareholder's interests trump student outcomes.