How Oversight Failures with Approved Educational & Job Training Programs Funded by the VA Have Put Thousands at Risk
Veterans across the country rely on the Department of Veterans Affairs ( VA ) approval system to ensure their education and job training programs are safe, legitimate and lead to meaningful employment yet thousands of veterans have been failed by a system riddled with oversight gaps, conflicting interests and regulatory loopholes that allow deceptive programs to remain approved with little concern of consequences and too often at great personal and financial cost to the veteran student and the taxpayer.
I know this all too well, as a former veteran job training student who was trained as a truck driver in late 2016 under a program approved to receive VA taxpayer funds.
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Our class, which included another veteran, was assigned to operate equipment that was not only several decades old but was also being operated in an array of mechanical conditions. The use of photographs, as well as vehicle identification numbers, and what are known as manufacturers’ build sheets, later proved that half of the equipment used by students was missing factory-installed parts identified as axles and wheels, with one trailer forty years old displaying an ” expired “Department of Transportation inspection certification.
Two of the three trailers that program instructors were assigning students, including job training veterans, to operate had mechanical defects with the unit that operates the legs attached to the bottom of each trailer. These mechanical defects, which one instructor described as ” bent, ” prevented all normal operation by the class when turning a hand crank used to raise and lower the legs, referred to as landing gear.
The findings & concerns of other students about the equipment are noted in their written statements, in which one student said that the operation of a hand crank used to raise & lower the legs on the bottom of the trailer was so in need of urgent repair and unsafe that it almost killed off the whole class of students.
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Near the end of the program, this job training veteran student became injured which eventually led to a complete loss of use with my dominate right arm. After my initial withdraw from the approved program and reporting my injury to the days assigned staff instructor who allowed me to leave class early to be seen by medical providers , I later found out that the instructor had failed to initiate the mandated student injury report.
I agreed to stay in class after reporting my injury to the instructor, both of us believing the injury was minor. Medical providers concurred with this and released me with no concerns or restrictions. During the following week, I briefed two other staff instructors about changes I was experiencing, in which one staff member believed my injury involved a nerve due to a burning sensation that traveled down my right shoulder ending at my thumb, while another instructor told me to see an area chiropractor, then make it to class. Two days later, I woke to a completely ” dead ” right arm, which was completely useless.
I traveled to the college’s main campus, meeting with a member of the school’s administration, who was advised by me in person how & why the injury had occurred under their watch, and what program instructors had told me concerning the equipment needing repair or replacement.
Sadly, all school employees with knowledge of the faulty equipment being used, as well as my injury, developed issues with memory & recall, and have maintained that no faculty or staff were told anything about a possible in-class injury despite supporting evidence.
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Due to the seriousness of my complaint, which reached the desk of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs at the time, the department ordered the state approving agency, which had initially approved the program, to conduct an enhanced review. Over a year after my injury, I received a copy of the findings reported to the Department of Veterans Affairs by the assigned state approving agency, which noted that no evidence supporting my allegations exists.
When I went directly with the department of veteran’s affairs noting the supporting evidence I had sent & briefed them about did not support what the administration of the approved program or the assigned state approving agency reported, the department of veterans affairs benefits administration told me that they are prohibited from questioning what paid contracted state approving agencies report to them even if what has been reported contains erroneous even fraudulent information.
The state approving agency offered nothing but excuses and double talk when I asked them about evidence & witnesses. Another agency included in the one paragraph report described as ” thorough ” as taking part in the review has denied all involvement as reported to the department of veterans affairs and for good reason, the agency is prohibited by state law from all jurisdiction over the school in question and although this is a red flag in which I based some of my argument on for reopening my case , the department of veterans affairs benefits administration continues to firmly stand with the assigned state approving agency & the college no matter what evidence may show.
As I continued to be ignored by many in Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and sadly, some veteran service organizations, I found two reports that supported my beliefs that the Department of Veterans Affairs’ use of state-approved agencies under taxpayer-paid contracts was failing the very people they claim to protect. Those publications are Resolution #304, September 2016, by the American Legion, and VA OIG Report #16-00862-179 by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ own “watchdog, ” the Office of the Inspector General. The time frame of these reports was conducted just prior to my incident.
These reports all point out that state approving agencies who claim to be some sort of guardian of the G.I bill, noting in press reports that state approving agencies only approve quality programs that lead to good paying jobs, have failed THOUSANDS if not tens’ of thousands of veteran students from all over the nation as well as the American taxpayer with reports noting that in many cases, approved schools were raided by the FBI. These reports prove that what the National Association of State Approving Agencies (NASAA has said in past press releases is simply NOT correct.
According to sources, including the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs, hundreds of millions, if not soon billions, of tax dollars have already fallen prey to waste, fraud, and abuse. This is supported as well by numerous U.S. Attorney’s offices, after enforcement actions, including arrests, have been made.
Through social media, I was able to converse with former veteran students across the nation, all of whom were failed by the system, said to protect them, and we have been traveling to Washington, D.C and speaking out since.
When former veteran students, including myself, spoke to Congress about our concerns and desire for urgent legislation, we were told that all legislation concerning veterans’ education & the G.I. Bill involves the National Association of State Approving Agencies (NASAA which provides services to all state approving agencies contracted by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The National Association of State Approving Agencies, to whom I reported my concerns in 2018 and which refused to investigate the matter, has publicly claimed in the past that state approving agencies only approve quality programs that lead to good-paying jobs. The same office holder of the national association of state approving agencies is also a higher education consultant for one of the nation’s most well-known veteran service organizations, who has ignored our requests to meet and talk about the failures of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ use under a paid contract with state approving agencies.
While in Washington D.C in 2024 meeting with staffers who work for both the senate & house veterans affairs committees, I and another veteran were told that nothing related to veterans education & job training moves forward absent of the support of the same contact for the national association of state approving agencies who not only refused to investigate my complaint about the integrity of the review conducted after my complaint but since has not once responded to my requests to meet with us and view evidence.
Sadly, as I researched the relationship between the National Association of State Approving Agencies and members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, I found photographs of members receiving awards from the same officeholders of the National Association of State Approving Agencies who had ignored meeting with former veteran students & me.
This case is an example of how the system in place protects itself.
With an upcoming trip planned for October 2025, I requested statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs under the Freedom of Information Act regarding the number of complaints made to the department by veteran students and approved dependents, about their approved educational & job training providers from 2015 to 2022.
My request included how many of those complaints were investigated by contracted & taxpayer-funded state approving agencies and how many of those complaints resulted in them being substantiated.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs informed me that to proceed with my request, they would need an estimated $2,262.00.
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Former veteran students and approved dependents who were swindled out of their earned G.I. Bill benefits, who were conned into taking out additional student loans or receiving worthless degrees, say enough and want action. We want our voices to be heard, and we want answers!
State approving agencies, according to investigative sources working under paid contract for the Department of Veterans Affairs, have failed to prevent millions of tax dollars from going to ineligible & delinquent schools. State approving agencies are responsible for approving school programs for G.I. Bill funding, yet have failed to prevent very generous taxpayer dollars from going to schools that do not benefit veteran students.
The problem is clear, but will Congress and veteran service organizations listen? Former veteran students and dependents have their doubts.
In my case, after surgery to my cervical spine and a year of intense physical therapy, I have regained much of the lost mobility that I once had, yet I will be forever limited in the activity of my right arm. I fear that the absence of swift action by Congress, especially the Committee on Veterans Affairs, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, veteran service organizations, and, of course, the National Association of State Approving Agencies, another veteran will experience a life-changing injury or worse, simply because of conflicts of interest or finger-pointing. We cannot allow that to happen.
Michael S. Hainline is a veteran education advocate living in Pensacola, Florida, who served in both active and reserve components of the armed forces. Hainline & other former veteran students who were failed by a system said to protect them want their stories to be heard. Mr. Hainline can be contacted at [email protected]
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