U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) reintroduced a bill on May 13 that would improve access to higher education information and restore benefits for military veterans.
The Student Veterans Transparency and Protection Act of 2023, which was originally introduced on April 26, will allow veterans to make better, informed choices about higher education while enabling the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to restore benefits that veterans use at schools subject to civil enforcement, according to a press release.
Benefits from the GI Bill have been helping veterans and their families pay for “college, graduate school, and training programs” since 1944, the Department of Veterans Affairs stated on its website. The GI Bill Comparison Tool offers veterans the opportunity to learn how far their benefits will go at different schools and training programs.
“The GI Bill benefit has helped open the doors to higher education for many veterans who otherwise would not be able to access it,” Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, said in the release. “But bad actors in the education community have taken advantage of those who have served, robbing them of the full value of their education benefits. Our bill will ensure that veterans who have been deceived are able to recoup their benefits. It will also help veterans learn more about different schools and their benefits so that they have the information they need to find the right program.”
Rounds said the legislation “will help veterans and service members steer clear of predatory institutions and select the best programs available.”
Veterans and service members deserve full access to the educational benefits they have earned, Rounds said in the release.
Several groups support the bill including, Student Veterans of America, American Veterans, the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the release stated.