Is it true that the DOD is planning to pull TA from all For-profit institutions

Discussion in 'Military-related education topics' started by bpreachers, Aug 21, 2011.

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  1. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    A friend of mine who is a NCC (Navy Career Counselor Chief) shot me an email on facebook after noticing a post I made on my current school page (AMU). It is pasted below along with my response to him. Now, I have been searching around on the net since this message trying to find anything that specifically casts APEI (company that owns AMU/APU) in a negative light regarding the DOD's coming crack down on for profit colleges and have yet to find anything. Due to this I figured I would come on and ask on here. 1 Has anyone heard any info about the DOD pulling the TA abilities from all For-profit colleges and 2 Has anyone heard any information pertaining directly to my school? I am 6 classes away from finishing my Undergrad with them and would hate to have the rug pulled out from under me at the end. Thanks.

    <<<<His email to me>>>>
    <<<<My response>>>>
     
  2. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    Thanks for any insight and/or updates yall have.
     
  3. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    This is RUMINT and needs to be squashed.
     
  4. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    Not to undermine the credibility of the OP's friend, but I personally would have a hard time taking advice from an enlisted career counselor on civilian employment matters. The free books comment is incorrect - all undergraduate students at APUS get free books whether they are TA, federal financial aid, or out-of-pocket.

    While I cannot speak to the OP's question, I do know for a fact that students registering for classes and then never logging in has been a SIGNIFICANT issue at all of the schools I teach for. This is an issue for both military students receiving TA and non-military students receiving financial aid. The issue really began to get some emphasis with the recent rules proposed for FPs regarding gainful employment, disclosure on employment prospects, etc. that we saw earlier this year.

    At APUS, policies were changed July 1 to include a graded assignment meeting specific parameters to be automatically graded by the learning management system at the end of the first week. If students have not completed that requirement they are automatically dropped from the course. I believe that their TA/ financial aid/tuition is held until that requirement has been met and then applied to their balance, but I am not 100% on that. I know that processing TA for students who never signed into the class has become a tremendous administrative headache. Similar requirements are in the works for the other schools I work at - a mixture of private NPs and FPs.

    I would not worry about APUS - enrollments are growing through the roof, the school is gaining several professional program accreditation, and several other good things on the horizon.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 21, 2011
  5. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    I am not worried about what he was saying regarding civilian employment. What is worrying me is the comments he made about the military pulling TA eligibility from for-profit colleges. That is what is bothering me.
     
  6. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Wouldn't that be un-American? How could the US Government be anti-capitalism? Isn't this painting everyone with the same brush without regard for common sense? This would seem one step closer to socialism to.
     
  7. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    Well no one has accused the military of common sense before so yeah.
     
  8. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    I understand. I would have never have thought military pensions would be on the table, so anything is possible. I mentioned on a thread around here a couple of months ago that I have a friend who works at the Pentagon who related to me that ALL TA was going to be examined more carefully in light of proposed funding reductions to the DOD.

    One of the things that I know for a fact is giving the military and schools fits is the large number of students who collect the TA benefit, but never finish courses or do not pass with a high enough grade to keep from having to take the course over. Honestly., I could see the system being revised to a tuition reimbursement system so that the military pays the service member for the course after the student has passed it. The only downside would be that military students would have to front fund the first semester. Given the degree to which schools bend over to get those TA dollars, I sure some arrangement could be made to reduce the impact of that first semester of courses (rebate, reduced rate, tack it on at the end of the program, interest free payment plans, etc).

    This would eliminate so many of the headaches associated with processing and managing enrollments of TA students. It would also be more of an deterrent for those who were not serious and an incentive for those who were.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 22, 2011
  9. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    This would make sense just like any company TA program. I would even say it is a fair idea to come up with an "average" cost of undergrad and graduate class and that is what the service member could get in TA. It will serve to help educate people to know what the average cost should/could be for a degree program and reduce the overall expenses. This way the for-profits are not targeted. It is all fair based on cost.
     
  10. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    What is RUMINT?
     
  11. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    Rumor Intelligence
     
  12. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    Last I heard, standard DoD TA was capped at $250 a credit, regardless if the school was for or non-profit. Some agencies seem to go above and beyond this. Perhaps what your friend was referring to only pertained to Navy people?
     
  13. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    Ted, like truckie posted:

    RUMINT = Rumor Intelligence
    HUMINT = Human Intelligence
    SIGINT = Signals Intelligence
    OSINT = Open Source Intelligence

    etc, etc.

    Anyway, if this was the case it would be all over the services. Believe me this would be a huge deal. The DoD has discussed a cut in TA funding (25% if I remember correctly) just like they are discussing changes to retirement. There have been no changes, at least not in the Air Force and Army.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 25, 2011
  14. That is the confusing part because it's already like that in the Air Force Reserves. I spent four years on active duty and became used to the "if you fail/drop then you have to pay the money." When I arrived at my reserve unit it was "if you pass then we will give you the money." To my knowledge, that was the status quo. It works "perfectly." I think it actually works better because most people work harder when their out-of-pocket money is being paid up front. I'm not sure why it hasn't transitioned to the active duty side.
     
  15. lawmann

    lawmann New Member

    The only requirement that the DoD has for paying tuition is that the school be regionally accreditied. "For-Profit" or "Not-For-Profit" makes no difference.
     

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