VA WARNS CALIFORNIA OVER FOR-PROFIT COLLEGE DISPUTE: The Trump administration is considering punishing the state’s regulators over their decision to turn away a large for-profit college seeking approval for funding under the GI Bill, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.
— The Department of Veterans Affairs notified California officials earlier this month that it’s mulling taking away power from the state’s veterans education agency, a drastic move that would affect the roughly 1,100 institutions of higher education it oversees.
— The VA’s warning comes after the California agency in December rebuffed an effort by Ashford University, a large online school, to obtain approval to enroll veterans using the GI Bill. State officials said they declined to act on Ashford’s application because Attorney General Xavier Becerra has accused the school of defrauding students as part of an ongoing lawsuit.
— The VA says California’s decision violates its contract to serve as a gatekeeper of GI Bill benefits. “VA believes that continued inaction on Ashford’s application may provide sufficient grounds to terminate” the agreement, the VA said. Here’s the full letter, obtained through a public records request.