Wnited States Senate WASHINGTON, DC 20510 August 4, 2010 The Honorable Robert Gates Secretary of Defense 1000 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20330-1670 Dear Secretary Gates: ‘We write regarding federal education support programs benefiting service members and their dependents. Specifically, we are concerned about the growing predominance of for-profit colleges and universities in these programs and the lack of information available about the quality of education provided by these institutions to active-duty personnel, dependents, and veterans. Enrollment at for-profit colleges and universities has grown by 225% over the past ten years. Some for-profit institutions serve active-duty students and their families well by offering flexible course schedules, distance leaning, and course eredit for military training. But we have heard reports that some for-profit institutions may be aggressively targeting military personnel, signing them up for educational programs that may bring little benefit to future employment opportunities, and low graduation rates. Finally, with the recent passage of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which provides for tuition reimbursement, we have heard concems about excessive tuition being charged at some of these institutions We ask you to review your Department’s voluntary education programs and provide us the following: © DoD tuition assistance expenditure data for each of the last ten years, including information on for-profit colleges that have received tuition assistance, the number of students who have enrolled at each for-profit college, and the total amount of funding disbursed to these colleges by program. © Information regarding the standards, aside from accreditation by a Department of, Fducation recognized agency, used to establish the eligibility of for-profit educational institutions to provide education through, and reimbursed by, DoD tuition assistance programs © Information regarding the standards used to establish eligibility of for-profit colleges to engage in on-base recruiting activities, including current requirements and limitations placed on colleges, regulations relating to inducements for students, including laptops or other gifts, and college counseling resources and practices.¢ Information on the quality of education programs at for-profit colleges, including costs of tuition, graduation and drop-out rates, number of students for whom graduation and drop- out information is unknown, job placement rates, accreditation status of schools and programs, student loan default rates, number of students that transfer from one institution to another, and acceptance of credit transfers by other institutions of higher education. © Information on incidents of misrepresentation or fraud on the part of for-profit colleges and any complaints regarding aggressive or deceptive marketing, poor quality coursework, unexpected costs, or inability to obtain promised employment. © Information on the systems in place to ensure quality of academic programs as well as any examples of for-profit institutions being barred from participating in voluntary education programs because of poor class quality, fraud, or for any other reason. Finally, we would appreciate information regarding any program changes you or the services are considering to ensure that only quality academic institutions are involved in voluntary education programs. Sincerely, Richard J. Durbin United States Senator j Tom Harkin Thomas R. Carper f United States Senator United States Senator Claire McCaskill Russell D. Feingold United States Senator United States Senator y Hagan t United States Senator