Vets Group Sounds Alarm with Ashford

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Then pull their accreditation. If there is actual "fraud" then they shouldn't be accredited. Simple. No accreditation = no GI Bill. The VA dispenses GI Bill funds to all sorts of educational institutions. They cover vocational schools. I believe they cover foreign schools as well. The idea that they need to police which schools are "legit" even when they are regionally accredited? I'd rather the VA focus on vets rather than vetting educational institutions, something that is outside of their mandate. USDOE should be making that seal of approval, not the VA and DoD.

But I'm highly suspicious of "Veterans Education Success" which I had not heard of until this article. More suspicious when their slick website contains prominent sections entitled "Whistleblower Support" and "Did your school lie to you?"

Their mandate from their website states:

OK, that's weirdly specific. They're basically a VA educational watchdog...

It goes on to say that they were formed to pretty much go after "certain predatory for-profit schools."

A quick glance at their 990 shows me that they spend most of their money on lobbying activities and salaries (Ms. Wofford earns a modest $129k) shelling out around $1.68M a year and taking in just over that amount in undisclosed contributions and grants. So I would be curious to see which special interest groups are funding this group that seems to have only one purpose; issue indignant statements like the one in the article.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Ashford. Everything I've ever heard of them sounds like they are super shady. But let's not go acting like this organization is some unbiased veterans group that just wants the best for all vets. They have a chosen narrative and they are willing to cherry pick the saddest stories to put them in front of congressional panels to drive legislation. The only way they would represent my interests would be if my story supported that chosen narrative.