U.S. Department of Defense Bans the University of Phoenix from Participating in Tuition Assistance Program!

Dear Commons Community,

The U.S. Department of Defense has put the University of Phoenix on probation and prohibited it from enrolling new students who are using the department’s Tuition Assistance Program that provides financial aid to active-duty service members. As reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education:

The department’s (U.S. Department of Defense) action comes several months after Phoenix’s parent company announced that the Federal Trade Commission had opened a broad investigation into the for-profit university’s practices and following a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting that detailed the company’s strategies for recruiting service members and veterans. The center’s website, Reveal, reported on Thursday that the Pentagon had also barred Phoenix officials from recruiting at military facilities.

For-profit colleges have long been criticized for their reliance on — and aggressive recruitment of — service members and veterans, who pay tuition largely through federal financial aid and through military educational benefits like the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Tuition Assistance Program. Federal rules prohibit for-profit colleges from receiving more than 90 percent of their overall revenue from federal financial aid, and many companies approach that level, even though the military education benefits are not counted toward the 90-percent cap...

One of the for-profit sector’s most ardent critics in Congress, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, cheered the department’s decision on Thursday, saying its “decisive action” would “protect servicemembers and taxpayers from a company that offers degrees of questionable value.” Mr. Durbin, a Democrat, asked the department in July to launch an inquiry into the company’s recruiting practices.”

Things just keep getting worse for the University of Phoenix!

Tony

 

Comments are closed.