Claims are that Yavapai College was charging “exorbitant fees” for the training and failing to meet VA minimum enrollment requirements
In a series of articles published in the Los Angeles Times in March, 2014, and another on June 27, it was pointed out that Yavapai College and Southern Utah were college programs that charged the VA exorbitant fees for flight training. The VA adjusted its enforcement of a regulation that requires flight school programs to have 15 percent of its positions filled by civilians. It then refused to fund any new VA applicants for Yavapai’s flight program.
According to the Times, the helicopter flight companies were exploiting a loophole in the newest GI Bill to train veterans entirely at government expense, with no cap on what they could charge. The programs were cited for violating a requirement that nonveterans make up at least 15% of students in VA-funded programs, a rule aimed at ensuring that programs don’t exist solely on GI Bill money. The VA hadn’t been enforcing the rule.
The programs at Yavapai and Southern Utah often trained veterans in expensive helicopters rather than the basic two- and four-seat models that other students used. In comparison to the charges at Yavapai College, at the Chandler-Gilbert Community College near Phoenix, helicopter training costs about $110,000 for two years. At Yavapai the average was $96,176 for one year of training, with four students costing between $205,189 and $232,474. Training usually went for two years at Yavapai College.
Legislation introduced in Congress this year would close the loophole by capping yearly tuition and fees at $20,235, the limit placed on all private colleges and universities. Current students would be exempt from the cap for two years. The bill has been approved by the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and could reach the House floor for a vote this summer.
This Blog story was based on information from the (click here for complete story) Los Angeles Times, June 27, and the (click here for complete story) Havasu News-Herald of June 30, 2015.