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Those who serve in the military are expected to lead people, operate sophisticated equipment, and routinely make decisions under pressure. Why then, do some lawmakers consider these same highly trained service members to be naïve when selecting a college of their choice?
The education benefits offered to active-duty members and veterans are the best in the nation. In fact, these exceptional educational incentives are a major recruiting tool and one of the top reasons why individuals join the military. In 2013, approximately 272,000 active-duty, Guard and reserve personnel used Tuition Assistance benefits to enroll in over 800,000 college courses; over one million veterans used their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
With such a large volume of students using federal funding for school, it is quite understandable for members of Congress to be concerned with abuses and return on investment for the funds that are expended. Unfortunately, the quest to uncover unscrupulous practices and abuses has unfairly targeted an entire segment of higher education; namely for-profit colleges.
Although traditional state schools and non-profit colleges offer a wide range of educational alternatives to include flexible scheduling and online classroom options, for-profit colleges are attractive options for career-minded veterans who desire a wider variety of cutting-edge degree programs. According to William G. Tierney, Co-Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California, the benefits of for-profit education goes beyond flexible scheduling and online classroom options. For-profit education is uniquely positioned to partner with employers because focusing on careers is built into the fabric of for-profit education. They can respond more fluidly to booming, emerging fields because of their willingness to embrace new forms of learning like competency-based learning.
There are thousands of veterans successfully attending for-profit institutions. Many earned degrees at for-profit colleges while successfully applying for advanced degrees at state or non-profit private colleges and universities. Many of these veterans who complete their degrees with for-profit institutions are experiencing positive outcomes. In fact, four out of five of the top providers of education serving members of the Department of Defense are for-profit colleges (Bilodeau, 2014).
We can all agree that veteran benefits are important for our nation to attract and retain the best and brightest to the military. We can also agree that our leaders are placed in a unique position, especially considering public outcry regarding some nefarious treatment of veterans. However, painting an entire industry with a broad stroke has far more reaching implications than just education. How and where veterans should use their hard-earned benefits should be left up to those who have served. Veterans have earned the right to be trusted to make the right decisions about their benefits.
http://rly.pt/2kSKY1X
Resource: OUSD Voluntary Education Program Update: Dawn Bilodeau February 2014
About the Author
John Aldrich is the associate vice president for military and community college outreach at American Military University (AMU). John’s past assignments for AMU include serving as director for military outreach, west region senior manager for military outreach, and education coordinator, California and Hawaii.
Prior to joining AMU, he served as an education services specialist for Marine Corps Base Twenty-Nine Palms California; director of career services and job placement at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, Beaufort, South Carolina; education specialist for Navy College Programs, Sicily, Italy; academic advisor for undecided students and student athletes at the University of Rhode Island; and as a Naval Hospital Corpsman, Fleet Marine Forces.
John earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Sciences and Services and a Master of Science in College Student Personnel from the University of Rhode Island.
Photo: Rebecca Roch, AMU Graduate of Securities and Global MA, 2009
The education benefits offered to active-duty members and veterans are the best in the nation. In fact, these exceptional educational incentives are a major recruiting tool and one of the top reasons why individuals join the military. In 2013, approximately 272,000 active-duty, Guard and reserve personnel used Tuition Assistance benefits to enroll in over 800,000 college courses; over one million veterans used their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
With such a large volume of students using federal funding for school, it is quite understandable for members of Congress to be concerned with abuses and return on investment for the funds that are expended. Unfortunately, the quest to uncover unscrupulous practices and abuses has unfairly targeted an entire segment of higher education; namely for-profit colleges.
Although traditional state schools and non-profit colleges offer a wide range of educational alternatives to include flexible scheduling and online classroom options, for-profit colleges are attractive options for career-minded veterans who desire a wider variety of cutting-edge degree programs. According to William G. Tierney, Co-Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California, the benefits of for-profit education goes beyond flexible scheduling and online classroom options. For-profit education is uniquely positioned to partner with employers because focusing on careers is built into the fabric of for-profit education. They can respond more fluidly to booming, emerging fields because of their willingness to embrace new forms of learning like competency-based learning.
There are thousands of veterans successfully attending for-profit institutions. Many earned degrees at for-profit colleges while successfully applying for advanced degrees at state or non-profit private colleges and universities. Many of these veterans who complete their degrees with for-profit institutions are experiencing positive outcomes. In fact, four out of five of the top providers of education serving members of the Department of Defense are for-profit colleges (Bilodeau, 2014).
We can all agree that veteran benefits are important for our nation to attract and retain the best and brightest to the military. We can also agree that our leaders are placed in a unique position, especially considering public outcry regarding some nefarious treatment of veterans. However, painting an entire industry with a broad stroke has far more reaching implications than just education. How and where veterans should use their hard-earned benefits should be left up to those who have served. Veterans have earned the right to be trusted to make the right decisions about their benefits.
http://rly.pt/2kSKY1X
Resource: OUSD Voluntary Education Program Update: Dawn Bilodeau February 2014
About the Author
John Aldrich is the associate vice president for military and community college outreach at American Military University (AMU). John’s past assignments for AMU include serving as director for military outreach, west region senior manager for military outreach, and education coordinator, California and Hawaii.
Prior to joining AMU, he served as an education services specialist for Marine Corps Base Twenty-Nine Palms California; director of career services and job placement at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, Beaufort, South Carolina; education specialist for Navy College Programs, Sicily, Italy; academic advisor for undecided students and student athletes at the University of Rhode Island; and as a Naval Hospital Corpsman, Fleet Marine Forces.
John earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Sciences and Services and a Master of Science in College Student Personnel from the University of Rhode Island.
Photo: Rebecca Roch, AMU Graduate of Securities and Global MA, 2009
Education Studies
Transition
Command Post
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
Thank you for this well-done piece, PO3 John Aldrich -- I enjoyed reading it. I agree that it is unfair, inaccurate, and potentially harmful for someone to label all for-profit education institutions as bad, or a waste of money/benefits. There are many for-profit institutions that are excellent paths for SMs/Veterans to take, which would believably improve their career outcomes. As we know, there are also other for-profit education institutions that prey -- DELIBERATELY prey -- on SMs/Veterans. Those are the ones we need to stay alert for as a military community, and those that we must avoid and help others avoid.
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Another good educational piece that I would ask permission to place in the Resources for Veterans and Services Members education section.
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LTC Yinon Weiss
CPT Richard Riley I am certain that down vote was by accident. We don't have a down vote "safety" on our mobile app yet (the user is on mobile), so we'll see down votes by accident once in a while. We'll fix this in our mobile app soon.
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CPT Richard Riley
LTC Yinon Weiss Your response seems more realistic an explanation. That is all the more reason to not respond offensively, so we just chalk it up to "stuff happens". I'm still in what most consider the dark ages because my blackberry has few mobile apps that I actively use but I can sympathize since I have read many comments regarding fat-finger-syndrome errors on the fly.
Thanks for the clarification & I'll use it as a learning experience for the future.
Thanks for the clarification & I'll use it as a learning experience for the future.
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SSgt (Join to see)
CPT Richard Riley You are a class act and we appreciate you here. Thank you for your service and thank you for being on RP.
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LCpl Karen Lowes
LTC Yinon Weiss , thank you for the explanation. I honestly wanted to know why the down vote. Makes sense now.
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5
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Going back to school to see about picking up an education in cinematography or film production.
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