APSCU Statement on Senate HELP Committee Majority Staff Report

Washington, D.C., July 30, 2014—Following the release of a report on Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits from U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, APSCU Vice President of Military and Veterans Affairs Michael Dakduk released the following statement:
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"Our institutions are proud to serve the hundreds of thousands of active duty service members, veterans and their families that attend our institutions.
 
"It is no surprise that members of the military choose our institutions because we provide them with career-focused programs, important support services and the flexibility they need to complete their education."
  
Background
A 2010 study by the RAND Corporation and the American Council on Education (ACE) titled "Military Veterans’ Experiences Using the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Pursuing Postsecondary Education" reported findings which support the view that our institutions are working to support these students. The report noted the following:

• Rate of satisfaction with the credit transfer experience was 60% among survey respondents who had attempted to transfer military credits to our institutions, versus only 27% among those from community colleges and 40% among respondents from public 4-year colleges. Only participants from private nonprofit colleges reported higher credit transfer satisfaction rates, at 82%.

• Respondents from our institutions reported fewer challenges to accessing required courses than all other institutions except for 4-year publics (33% of respondents at public 2-year colleges, 26% at private nonprofits, 22% at our institutions and 18% at public colleges).

• Survey respondents in private sector colleges and universities reported higher than average satisfaction rates with academic advising, at 67%, versus about 50% satisfaction among respondents at other institution types.

• Reasons for choosing our institutions included: career-oriented programs with flexible schedules, like-minded adult students, flexible credit transfer rules and same institution in multiple locations.