STUDENT VETERANS GROUP SUSPENDS 40 CHAPTERS FOR ADVERTISING INTEGRITY

FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Student Vets Group Revokes Over 40 Chapters at For-Profit SchoolsApril 5, 2012 by Alex Horton

There are over six thousand schools nationally that accept GI Bill benefits, and a good deal of them work hard to help Veterans make it through to graduation. But a concerning number of for-profit schools have violated one organization’s rules meant to protect student Vets, leading to their removal from a national network of student Veteran chapters.

Student Veterans of America today announced the decision to revoke chapter membership at over 40 for-profit schools after a review found they listed school administrators as student Veteran leaders on campus.

“The rule is in place to not only protect the integrity of our organization, but to ensure the interests of students are put ahead of the school,” said Brian Hawthorne, a member of the board of directors at SVA. “There’s a concern these schools were using our brand to advertise as Veteran friendly.”

According to SVA’s guidelines, only student Veterans should be charged with running campus chapters, which serve as points of contact with fellow student Vets.
About 10 percent of SVA chapters were revoked due to the decision, and can reapply for membership in a year after they demonstrate adherence to chapter guidelines. According to the organization, misrepresentation of student Veteran campus leaders is especially prolific at for-profit schools, which triggered the review of all for-profit chapters of SVA.
“We encourage students to start chapters at any school,” Hawthorne said. “We pride ourselves on our reach, but we will always remove chapters that violate terms of membership meant to protect students.”

VA takes the issues of student Veterans seriously and we’ll continue to monitor developments in situations where the success of student Veterans may be at risk.