Veterans groups seek a crackdown on deceptive colleges http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/us/politics/veterans-groups-seek-a-crackdown-on-deceptive-colleges.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation&action=click&contentCollection=education®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront
Veteran's groups, especially the American Legion, carry some serious horsepower on Capitol Hill. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this became a major issue. The assorted Veteran's groups are interesting; their membership numbers are down in spite of all the returning Vets from Iraq & Afghanistan. I blame a lot of that on the very cliquey atmosphere of many posts. I belong to the Legion, VFW, and DAV, but I haven't been inside any of their posts in a social capacity in many years. When I first got back from deployment, I couldn't wait to join them all, but whenever I went to a post for a few beers with a fellow Gulf War Vet friend, we were made about as welcome as a case of the clap. I continue to keep my membership up in all of them, just because I understand the political juice they have in government, and the VFW in particular has been extremely helpful to me personally in navigating the maze of the Veteran's Administration as far as health care and benefits.
Typical. They're mad. But (like Trump's supporters) they don't have the first idea about the subject they're mad about. Just a general blast and a cry for the need to do something. But what? You don't see that. VA could take on the role of truly evaluating the schools it approves. But that's probably tens of thousands of tertiary institutions--who's gonna do that? Or they could do it by proxy, which would mean relying on accreditors. But many of the schools they're complaining about are accredited. (They could also turn to the states, but we know how uneven they are, right?) Or they could keep on complaining and doing nothing, stepping in only when the most egregious examples (like Corinthian) arise. I'm in favor of the VA taking responsibility. They could set outcome measures, require the schools to self-report, do sampled audits, and put schools on a re-audit schedule that reflects their accomplishing outcomes. The better they do in an audit, the less frequently they're audited. Of course, this would people in the VA who knew what they were looking at--fat chance. Not because they're the VA per se, but because such insight is in extremely short supply all over the federal and state governments. I work for the federal government, but not in this field and not for the VA. I don't know anyone else who really gets this stuff. Too bad; I'd like to meet them.
You might see that eventually. For all the horror stories I've heard about the VA, I've had a great experience with them, once I knew how to navigate their bureaucracy (assisted by a VFW Service Officer). They've really gotten their act together recently (no doubt fueled by all the bad press they were getting) as far as health care and compensation/benefits. Wait times at the VA Hospitals I've been to (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Brockton) are non-existent, and decisions regarding compensation/benefits are down to 2 months or so, versus the 2 years that was common not long ago. Hopefully, that trend will spill over into VA-approved education institutions, once they're done reforming the health care system, which IMO should take priority over education benefits.
I had an experience similar to Bruce when I left the Navy. I eagerly joined the American Legion (I didn't qualify for the VFW because I have a GWOT Service Medal and not a GWOT Expeditionary Medal). I let my membership lapse because I specifically want groups like the American Legion to lose that political "juice" because they evidently feel OK ignoring the interests of younger veterans. The absolute last thing I want is the American Legion presuming to speak for me unless they are advocating for better VA facilities and additional veteran benefits. Beyond that, I don't particularly care about their thoughts on education. The American Legion seems to operate, at the top level, as a lobbying firm. And, at the local level, as a bar franchise that increasingly opens its doors to local college students on weekends to remain afloat. If a person enjoys the social aspect of the posts, power to them. But for me I file it in a bin with the Girl Scouts. There may have been a time when the only way to prepare my daughter for an entrepreneurial future was to have her sell someone's product for free. Now we have leadership camps, internships and conferences dedicated to that same thing. Of course if I send my daughter to the Women's Leadership Conference she won't have the opportunity to earn that spatula she's had her eye on.
