VA Education Benefits
Actions Taken, but Outreach and Oversight Could Be Improved
GAO-11-256, Feb 28, 2011
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provided $9 billion in education benefits to service-members and veterans in fiscal year 2010, mostly through the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. In providing education benefits, VA relies on State Approving Agencies (SAA) to approve schools; and on schools to report students' enrollment status. GAO was asked to determine: (1) what is known about the effectiveness of outreach to and support for individuals applying for VA education benefits, particularly those with disabilities; (2) the role of school officials and challenges they face in their role; and (3) how VA monitors and oversees states' and schools' implementation of these benefits. GAO reviewed VA reports and plans, conducted a nationally representative survey of school officials, interviewed VA and state officials in four states, and reviewed recent statutory changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
VA has various activities to reach out to and support individuals who are eligible for education benefits. For example, VA reaches eligible servicemembers through military separation briefings and has sponsored national marketing campaigns for the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. General awareness of VA education benefits among servicemembers and veterans is high, according to program stakeholders. In fiscal year 2010, more than 700,000 individuals were served by these programs. However, stakeholders also identified some limitations with VA's outreach and support. For instance, veterans' service organizations and school officials stated that some servicemembers and veterans may have difficulty determining which of VA's various programs may be right for them. In addition, VA primarily targets its outreach and support for its education benefits to the general population of servicemembers and veterans, not necessarily those with disabilities, because eligibility is based on length of military service and not disability status. Finally, little is known about the effectiveness of VA's outreach and support because VA has not established performance measures for these activities. School certifying officials' core responsibilities--primarily certifying student enrollment to VA and reporting enrollment changes--have become more complex under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and officials identified challenges such as obtaining timely, comprehensive policy guidance and training from VA. For example, school officials must determine the tuition and fees that the Post-9/11 GI Bill will cover, which varies based on the length of active-duty military service and other factors. In our survey, school officials reported performing roles beyond those specifically required by VA, such as helping students apply for benefits. Although the majority of school officials were generally satisfied with VA's implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, they cited a range of challenges, such as the lack of a Post-9/11 GI Bill policy manual. In addition, although VA provides training through conferences and its Web site, many officials did not participate due to other job responsibilities, travel costs, and lack of awareness about training opportunities. VA lacks comprehensive information on the effectiveness of its oversight of SAAs and schools. VA monitors SAAs, in part, by reviewing reports on the number of approved schools and completed site visits, but this approach has limitations. For example, VA has not set minimum standards for SAAs' reviews of student files during their site visits to schools and, therefore, lacks assurance that data collected from these file reviews are valid and comparable. Also, VA has not completed its own required school audits in recent years. Most recently, VA suspended its audits during fiscal year 2010 in order to reassign compliance staff to help process a backlog of Post-9/11 GI Bill claims. Although VA has resumed its audits, there are indications that it may not be able to complete all required audits in fiscal year 2011. Moreover, VA does not compile and review findings from its own or other entities' audits of schools that would, going forward, allow it to identify trends and better target its oversight of schools. GAO recommends that VA establish outcome-oriented performance measures for outreach and support activities; improve communication with school officials; and undertake a systematic review of its oversight of SAAs and schools. VA concurred with four recommendations and concurred in principle with one recommendation aimed at strengthening oversight. VA noted a number of actions already taken in this area. GAO encourages VA to address all aspects of this recommendation moving forward.
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Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
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Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve VA's outreach and support for eligible servicemembers and veterans, communication with school officials, and oversight of its education benefit programs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should develop outcome-oriented performance measures for outreach to servicemembers and veterans who are seeking VA education benefits. This could include measures of VA's success in reaching out to target populations, including servicemembers and veterans with disabilities, and in addressing areas where more information about education benefits may be needed.
Agency Affected: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open
Comments: VA officials reported that it is exploring ways to measure the effectiveness of its outreach, and will begin establishing baseline performance measures for implementation in fiscal year 2012.
Recommendation: To improve VA's outreach and support for eligible servicemembers and veterans, communication with school officials, and oversight of its education benefit programs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should establish performance measures for the quality of information provided by VA's toll-free hotline and for the timeliness and quality of its Right Now Web service.
Agency Affected: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open
Comments: VA reported that it is working to develop suitable performance measures for its call center and monitoring policies that are consistent with other national standards for similar programs within the VA. The agency estimates it will complete these activities by December 31, 2011.
Recommendation: To improve VA's outreach and support for eligible servicemembers and veterans, communication with school officials, and oversight of its education benefit programs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should provide more timely, accessible, and comprehensive education program policy information. This could include developing and maintaining an online policy manual for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and providing e-mail updates to school certifying officials nationwide.
Agency Affected: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: On June 3, 2011, VA issued a School Certifying Officials Handbook which serves as the comprehensive standardized school certifying officials' manual for all VA education benefits. The handbook is posted on VA's GI Bill website, on the School Resources page. The handbook includes information on recent legislative changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill and supersedes any locally produced VA material regarding VA education benefits (such as policy handbooks created by VA regional processing offices). VA plans to update the handbook as needed. In addition, the School Resource page of VA's GI Bill website includes a news section. School certifying officials and others can subscribe to be notified when this news section is updated.
Recommendation: To improve VA's outreach and support for eligible servicemembers and veterans, communication with school officials, and oversight of its education benefit programs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should increase efforts to make school certifying officials aware of available training opportunities, including VA's online training module, and consider providing information for school certifying officials on working with servicemembers and veterans with disabilities.
Agency Affected: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Closed - Implemented
Comments: On June 22, 2011, VA announced changes to its website to help school certifying officials find key information. The GI Bill website now has a School Resources page for news, training and other resources specifically for schools. For example, the website has information on online training as well as upcoming conferences for school certifying officials. The website also includes a link to a report on ways that schools can accommodate student veterans with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, VA is working on a series of informational training videos for school certifying officials which will be included on the School Resources page of the GI Bill website. VA expects to release the first of these videos in fall 2011.
Recommendation: To improve VA's outreach and support for eligible servicemembers and veterans, communication with school officials, and oversight of its education benefit programs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should undertake a systematic review of VA's and SAAs' oversight of schools, focusing on opportunities to improve resource allocation, adopt risk-based approaches, consider cost-effective ways to oversee foreign schools, and evaluate the results of its oversight activities on a routine basis.
Agency Affected: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open
Comments: VA reported that it will be using the State Approving Agencies to conduct oversight of schools, in accordance with Public Law 111-377. In addition, the agency is completing a systematic review of its compliance staff to determine proper resource allocation for approval, compliance, and outreach activities. In addition, VA stated that it will identify and report on services provided and the costs associated with foreign schools. However, VA stated that it cannot complete an evaluation of results until the State Approving Agencies and education liaison representatives begin conducting the work associated with the changes enacted in Public Law 111-377.