In 2010, ACTE worked with other organizations and Congress to address an issue in the Post-9/11 GI Bill that prevented veterans from using their benefits at non-degree granting institutions, which include our area CTE centers. The result was the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, passed that December, which allowed area CTE centers as an allowable use of veterans’ benefits starting last October.
However, a new issue has now emerged. Thanks to ACTE members in Florida, it has come to our attention that a provision on the books from an earlier veterans education bill is creating difficulty for any area CTE center programs utilizing an online component. As our area CTE centers have begun the process of requesting approval for the use of veterans’ education benefits for their programs, they have discovered that any such program that includes any online or distance learning component has been deemed ineligible—merely because the institutions themselves are classified as non-degree-granting.
Despite the fact that the certificate programs at these institutions are accredited and are integral to both the industry and workforce development needs of communities and states, and to the higher education systems in such states where non-degree-granting higher education institutions exist, they are arbitrarily ruled ineligible if any portion is offered online.
ACTE has begun working with both Members of Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs to gather information on and address this issue. We need your help though!
Please let us know if you are at an area CTE center that offers online programs, or programs with any portion (even a small amount) offered online. We need to provide information to Congress on the scope of this problem.
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