Increased Oversight of Tuition Assistance Program is Needed

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is calling for expanded education quality review procedures after auditing the Department of Defense’s (DOD) oversight of the Military Tuition Assistance Program.

The Military Tuition Assistance Program provided $517 million in tuition assistance to approximately 377,000 service members in fiscal year 2009.  These funds help service members pay for higher education.

The GAO found that DOD review of the quality of academic courses and services was too narrow.   Although 71% of the courses taken by service members were distance courses, DOD focused its oversight on traditional classroom instruction.

The GAO reports that DOD review can also be improved by increased accountability.  For example, DOD currently lacks a system to track complaints about schools and their outcomes and does not gather information such as whether schools are in jeopardy of losing their accreditation.

As a result, DOD may have difficultly accurately identifying problems that can negatively affect student service members.

DOD plans to implement more uniform oversight policies and procedures and an expanded quality review process.

Read more:

United States Government Accountability Office Report: DOD Education Benefits:  Increased Oversight of Tuition Assistance Program Is Needed (March 2011).