Veterans Employment: Promising VA Technology Education Pilot Would Benefit from Better Outcome Measures and Plans for Improvement
Fast Facts
More than 6,700 veterans enrolled in a Veterans Affairs' technology education program from May 2019-May 2022. About 66% of the enrollees completed training.
But VA doesn't have a full picture of how well this pilot program is working or ways to improve it. For example, VA doesn't know why some veterans (13%) dropped out of the program. And VA can't assess how effective the program has been with helping veterans get jobs because it doesn't collect the relevant data.
VA has found some ways to improve the program, but doesn't have a way to ensure that changes are made before the pilot ends in 2 years. Our recommendations address these issues.
Highlights
What GAO Found
Over 6,700 veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Veterans Employment Through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) pilot program from May 2019 through May 2, 2022. They were generally more racially and ethnically diverse and more likely to have a service-connected condition, compared to working-age veterans in the U.S. population. Most veterans (66 percent) who enrolled in the program completed their training (see figure).
VA calculates an employment measure for certain VET TEC participants for whom VA has made a final milestone payment decision. However, VA does not calculate an employment rate for all VET TEC participants who completed the program, in accordance with other government and industry approaches. As a result, VA lacks sufficient information to compare VET TEC to other programs or to assess the effectiveness of the program at getting veterans into jobs. In addition, VA does not use all available data or collect additional data on employment outcomes. For example, VA does not use information it collects on the type of employment program participants obtain (e.g., full-time, part-time, self-employed, etc.). In addition, VA does not systematically collect data on whether veterans retain employment. Without fully using available data or collecting additional relevant data, VA does not have a full picture of VET TEC employment outcomes.
Training providers told GAO that key benefits of VET TEC include an accelerated path to employment and virtual training. Three of five training providers said VET TEC allows veterans to enter the workforce quickly. Veterans completed training in 3 months, on average, according to GAO analysis of VA data. Training providers also cited challenges with some aspects of VET TEC. For example, three training providers said they faced delays in getting their applications approved, and four training providers said some application instructions were unclear. VA has taken some steps to address these challenges, such as revising certain aspects of its training provider approval processes.
VA has identified several actions for enhancing VET TEC. Specifically, VA has identified specific areas of improvement for VET TEC, with over 80 related tasks. For example, VA is planning to develop a scorecard to assess training provider quality and update its employment certification form. However, as of May 2022, VA had not developed consistent, clear, and measurable program objectives—a leading practice of effective pilot program design. Over the course of GAO's review, VA officials provided various versions of program objectives for VET TEC that were not consistent. These objectives were also not measurable because they did not include an indicator of how VA will measure progress. As a result, assessing and evaluating VET TEC by the end of the pilot will likely be difficult for VA.
Why GAO Did This Study
The federal government helps veterans pursue skills needed in the civilian workforce. Specifically, the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 instructed VA to develop a 5-year pilot program to help veterans obtain high-technology jobs. VA created VET TEC to support veterans who enroll in high-technology education programs through VA-approved training providers.
The act includes a provision for GAO to assess VET TEC. This report examines the (1) demographic characteristics of participants, (2) employment outcomes of participants, (3) benefits and implementation challenges reported by training providers, and (4) steps VA has taken to improve the VET TEC program.
GAO analyzed data on VET TEC participants and reviewed relevant VA documents, federal laws, and regulations. GAO interviewed VA officials and a nongeneralizable sample of approved training providers selected for variation in the number of veterans served and locations. GAO also compared VA's efforts to leading practices for effective pilot design.
Recommendations
GAO is making six recommendations, including that VA develop an employment rate calculation consistent with standard approaches; determine data needed to fully inform employment outcomes; and develop clear, measurable objectives for VET TEC. VA neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendation to develop a standardized employment rate calculation and generally agreed with the other recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of VA should require training providers to inform VA of the reasons why veterans drop out of the VET TEC program. (Recommendation 1) | In January 2025, enacted legislation authorized a modified VET TEC program through September 30, 2027. In preparation for implementing the permanent VET TEC program, VA plans to explore options to obtain drop out reasons from VET TEC participants. VA also plans to incorporate additional training and quality reviews with the implementation of the permanent VET TEC program. As of February 2025, VA is developing an implementation plan to collect additional information on reasons veterans drop out of the program. However, VA has not required training providers to submit this information. GAO will close this recommendation once VA consistently collects these data for veterans who drop out of... the program.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of VA should adjust the terminology it uses to describe its current employment rate calculation to clarify that the calculation is not measuring the employment rate but is instead measuring employment at a specific payment milestone. (Recommendation 2) |
VA issued a procedural advisory in October 2023 that revised its terminology to describe its VET TEC employment calculation as a 180-day employment rate that measures employment at a specific payment milestone. In January 2024, VA updated the advisory to clarify which VET TEC students are included and excluded in its calculation of the 180-day employment rate. VA distributed the procedural advisory to relevant staff and published it on the VA intranet.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of VA should develop an employment rate calculation consistent with standard approaches used by government or industry entities. (Recommendation 3) |
VA neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendation. In January 2025, enacted legislation authorized a modified VET TEC program through September 30, 2027. As of February 2025, VA reviewed internal and external agency employment calculation best practices. VA has identified the need for a full-time data analyst to support additional data collection to calculate the employment rate. Once the permanent VET TEC program is implemented, VA will assign a data analyst to conduct the employment data collection. GAO will close this recommendation once VA reports employment rate information for the permanent VET TEC program.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of VA should use available data, determine what additional data are needed to fully inform VET TEC employment outcomes, and develop concrete time frames for collecting and reporting these data. (Recommendation 4) | VA agreed with this recommendation. In January 2025, enacted legislation authorized a modified VET TEC program through September 30, 2027. VA began to collect available information on employment from VA Form 22-10201; however, VA is awaiting system updates to be able to collect these data systematically. As of February 2025, VA is making system updates required to collect these data, and VA plans to make these updates no later than November 2025. GAO continues to believe that VA should determine what additional data, if any, are needed to inform employment outcomes for VET TEC, particularly now that the program is permanent. GAO will close this recommendation once VA demonstrates that it...
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of VA should establish time frames for addressing actions it has identified for improving VET TEC. (Recommendation 5) |
In March 2022, VA identified 84 recommended actions or tasks for improving VET TEC. As of June 2023, VA had implemented 20 of the tasks, re-prioritized 37 tasks for completion by October 1, 2023, and determined it would not take further action on 27 actions. VA provided an implementation schedule showing due dates for actions it plans to implement.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of VA should identify and document a single set of clear, measurable objectives for the VET TEC program. (Recommendation 6) |
VA agreed with this recommendation. In January 2025, enacted legislation authorized a modified VET TEC program through September 30, 2027. In August 2024, VA completed an employment and experience survey based on the first two stated objectives (program objectives were formalized in June 2023) with the participants of the VET TEC pilot program. As of February 2025, VA is requesting contract support to assist with conducting an evaluation on objectives 3 and 4. GAO continues to believe that VET TEC should ensure that the VET TEC program has clear, measurable program objectives. GAO will close this recommendation once VA has demonstrated that program objectives are measurable.
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