​Career Education Colleges and Universities applauded the quick work of Congress to protect Veteran Students in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. CECU welcomed the passage of Senate Bill 3503, which  allows Veterans and their dependents, as well as service members, on the GI Bill® to continue receiving their benefits as universities temporarily move their classes online to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The bill, authored by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS.) and Ranking Member Jon Tester (D-MT.), ensures that GI Bill® recipients will not lose access to their earned education benefits because of the shift to online education.

With colleges and universities cancelling in-person classes and moving to remote or online courses to limit the spread of COVID-19, Steve Gonzalez, Senior Vice President of Government, Military & Veterans Relations at Career Education Colleges made the following statement:

“CECU’s encourages Congress to ensure student veterans’ existing GI Bill® benefits and housing allowances are not negatively impacted due to the health-related situation outside of the school or student veterans’ control.”

Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) praised the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration for their recent decision to suspend approval of new enrollments for the education and training of Veterans at five universities following alleged abuses by those institutions.

Career Education Review 
By Steve Gonzalez, Executive Director of Veterans for Career Education

​Labor Day 2019 marked one of the best years ever for jobs in the United States. The unemployment rate stands at record lows. The jobs vacancies are at all-time highs. Wages are increasing as demand for skilled workers grows.

But what if Labor Day 2019 is remembered as the year that veterans lost access to the job skills necessary for employment in today’s workplace? What if future Labor Day celebrations show a record number of unemployed veterans?

​Military veteran students, alumni, faculty and staff from Career Education Colleges and Universities member schools are in Washington, DC this week to speak with their elected representatives in Congress about the importance of protecting veterans’ access to career education.

​Analysis by NDP Analytics reveals that more than 400 public and private nonprofit colleges and universities would fail the 90/10 rule. The research, commissioned by Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU), uses an expanded 90/10 formula provided in a recent report published under the Brookings Institution. The expanded 90/10 rule includes state and local appropriations and grants and military and veteran education benefits.

​NDP Analytics projects that up to 158,000 veterans could lose the ability to use their military and veteran education benefits at the school and program of their choice.  The research, commissioned by Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU), looks at the potential impact of proposals in Congress to consider military and veterans benefits as economic subsidies similar to Pell Grants and federal loans.