OLYMPIA, Washington. (Legal Newsline) — Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has urged U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to restore the education benefits of veterans preyed upon by institutions like Corinthian Colleges Inc.
“Our veterans earned these benefits by serving our country,” Ferguson said. “These institutions specifically preyed upon them, using false promises and dishonest statistics about their programs and job placement. These deceptive schools took veterans’ education benefits and left them without the right training and qualifications to reach their goals.”
Ferguson joined seven other attorneys general in a letter to McDonald. They seek for him to use his authority to restore full benefits and eligibility for these veterans and to take steps to stop this victimization by predatory institutions.
“We honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans by ensuring that when they return home, they have access to benefits that will help them transition to civilian employment and build lives for themselves and their families,” the attorneys general wrote in the letter. “Rather than being honored, the veterans who enrolled in Corinthian schools were cheated out of these benefits.”
Veterans are eligible for more than $21,000 per year in student-veterans benefits as part of the G.I. Bill.
Corinthian owned and operated six Everest College campuses in Washington before a sale to Zenith Education group. The state is involved in multiple actions against Corinthian and similar institutions for alleged deceptive practices.