Clinton: Stop For-Profit Colleges From Targeting Veterans

Hillary Clinton announced on Thursday a new plan intended to stop for-profit colleges from fleecing veterans who use federal G.I. Bill funds to attend school.

Speaking before a roundtable with veterans in Reno, Nevada, Clinton focused her remarks on the so-called 90-10 rule. The rule requires for-profit colleges to accept at least 10% of their money from private dollars rather than federal financial aid and loans, with the idea of holding the schools more accountable to the open market.

But an unintended loophole in the 90-10 rule means that federal military benefits like the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill can count toward schools’ 10%. That leads for-profit schools to aggressively target veterans in search of federal dollars, often deceptively. Proponents of a new bill say that veterans at many for-profit schools have high dropout rates and leave badly in debt.

Clinton would plan to close the loophole.

It’s hardly a sweeping vision for the country of the tenor that Clinton laid out in her campaign launch speech on Saturday. But in the coming months, advisers say Clinton will continue to roll out policy proposals at the rate of about one per week.

Two bills similar to Clinton’s proposal introduced in the House and Senate have foundered without gaining much momentum.

Clinton also said on Thursday she would plan as President to address predatory lending to veterans, healthcare and expanding job options after service.

She sang the praises of bipartisan compromise, too. “In a democracy, nobody has all the answers,” Clinton said. “You have to get up everyday and say, ‘I’m willing to work for anyone whose willing to work for the good of America and in particular the good of our veterans.'”