Now, NPR has reported that Trump is choosing for-profit colleges over supporting vets who were defrauded and misled by those schools. The Department of Veteran Affairs will be allowing for-profit schools, like the University of Phoenix, to access GI Bill money, even though the school—which is the largest recipient of GI Bill funds—previously had to cough up almost $200 million for making misleading claims to students about career placement. As The New York Times reported, Trump also vetoed a resolution in May that ultimately makes it much more difficult for vets to successfully seek loan forgiveness. But why one might ask, are GI Bill funds so crucial to for-profit colleges? Well, it’s because they allow the schools to exploit a legal loophole. As NPR explains, the schools are required to receive 10% or more of their funding outside of federal aid, and GI Bill funds don’t count towards the 90% cap on governmental aid. “We always say in the military that you leave no soldier behind and I definitely feel left behind, by my president, by my government,” Tasha Berkhalter, who lost all her GI money by enrolling at the now-defunct ITT Tech in Indiana, told NPR. And it looks like many more veterans may also keep getting left behind.
