Student Veterans Will Be The Collateral Damage
July 13, 2021
Despite our damning research into the 90/10 Rule, Collateral Damage, which demonstrates that the 90/10 Rule is merely a blunt inputs-test that does nothing to guarantee or incentivize quality student outcomes, and in fact punishes institutions with quality student outcomes, the 117th Congress ignored our warnings and passed changes to the 90/10 Rule in the American Rescue Plan. These changes will negatively impact about 90,000 Veteran and Military Students at an estimated 87 institutions, many of which demonstrate stronger student outcomes than their public institution peers.
And yet, Congress is once again aiming to further restrict the benefits of Veterans and Military Students, by proposing further changes to the 90/10 Rule. Having already made Veterans and Military Students’ earned benefits equivalent to student loans, Congress is now proposing a stricter ratio that only proprietary institutions must meet, changing the 90/10 ratio to 85/15. Our research indicates this shortsighted measure will impact an estimated 333 institutions who collectively enroll about 116,000 Veteran and Military Students. Additionally, and most importantly, our research clearly shows that these students are mostly enrolled in high-performing institutions that demonstrate better student outcomes than their public-school peers, meaning that if the students at these institutions lose access to their earned benefits, it is likely that they will enroll in public institutions with worse outcomes, or drop out of higher education entirely.
