Ensuring Student Veterans Receive Quality Education

Before wrapping up the 116th Congress, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs passed significant student veteran protections into law that will improve the quality of education offered to students nationwide, expand benefits for student veterans and their families, and give the State Approving Agencies responsibilities for approving courses the ability to crack down on poor performing schools.

Student veterans taking remote classes due to COVID-19 faced the possibility of having their GI Bill benefits cut in December. To prevent this from happening, the House and Senate passed Representative David Trone’s REMOTE Act. This legislation extends vital protections for student veterans secured by Chairman Takano’s Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act in 2020 that provides remote learning waivers and ensures that full housing benefits are given to student veterans as schools continue to conduct virtual classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Congress, a provision in the American Rescue Plan finally closed the 90/10 loophole — which incentivizes for-profit schools to target veterans using aggressive and deceptive tactics — and hold predatory for-profits accountable and safeguard veterans’ GI Bill benefits.

Our Committee will continue to work on guaranteeing a successful implementation of these protections, monitoring the quality of education for students, and ensuring unscrupulous institutions no longer can defraud student veterans of their hard-earned benefits.