You’re undoubtedly familiar with military recruiters visiting high schools and college campuses to enlist students in the armed forces.  Huge debates have raged over the issue, with supporters on both sides of the aisle pointing to everything from free speech to gay rights to the role of federal government in publicly funded schools. 

But what about the reverse?  What happens when college recruiters visit military installations to enlist active duty personnel and veterans into their universities? 

On the surface, it seems like a much fairer deal.  After all, Philosophy 101, Solar Energy Fundamentals, and Intro to Chemistry are much safer than active combat.  And campus food is generally more palatable than what they serve in the barracks – generally. 

But as it turns out, the deal is not as fair as you might believe. 

That’s why President Obama just signed an executive order designed to protect military families and veterans from what many believe to be “aggressive and deceptive recruiting” tactics by institutions of higher learning. 

The Real Goal of Veterans Affairs and the GI Bill

At issue are the countless military benefits that colleges receive when they enroll veterans and active duty personnel.  This is especially true at for-profit universities that receive a disproportionate amount of GI Bill funding due to their higher tuition costs. 

In and of itself, receiving extra funding to train veterans is not a bad thing.  In fact, it’s what the GI Bill was designed to do.  One major problem, however, is that previous versions of the GI Bill made few stipulations about university retention rates.  This means that even if a military student drops out right away, the college can still continue to receive some or all of the federal funding.

Loopholes like these incentivized many recruiters to use predatory practices in order to lure military students – even if recruitment was based on false advertising… and even if students only enrolled temporarily.  It’s similar to the lending practices used during the housing crisis.  The goal was to get signatures – not long-term homeowners. 

What kind of predatory practices did universities employ? 

  • Some colleges erected misleading websites that promised a range of veterans benefits that, in actual fact, did not exist.
  • Other schools sent recruiters to military bases to visit soldiers.  In some cases, these soldiers were oblivious to what they were signing due to brain injuries sustained in the field.

Treating Our Veterans with Honor – Educating Them with Dignity

Raised in a military family and a long-time solar PV installation instructor of many men and women in uniform, I’m fairly certain that such practices are NOT what the GI Bill and the Department of Veterans Affairs were designed to promote. 

We’re talking about people who have selflessly risked their lives to serve and protect our country.  If our veterans want to secure nursing degrees or solar PV installation training or diplomas in the culinary arts, we should be there to support them.  Offering them affordable education – if and only if they want it – is the very least we can do in return. 

I realize that providing education is not cheap – and many schools are strapped for cash.  But taking advantage of military families for profit is just wrong.  Imagine the outrage if military recruiters went to civilian hospitals and enlisted patients suffering from brain injuries or mental disease.

Regardless of your political leanings, this most recent executive order is one that we should all be applauding.  

In the coming weeks, I hope to share some exciting news for any active duty personnel or veterans interested in valuable, transparent, and affordable solar energy career training.

Stay tuned….