LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) — California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, along with seven other states, asking the VA secretary to help restore educational benefits to veterans allegedly victimized by for-profit schools like Corinthian Colleges Inc. (Corinthian).
“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,” Harris said in the letter.
According to multiple allegations, many veterans were defrauded out of their education benefits. Harris wants VA Secretary Robert McDonald to use his authority to restore benefits and ensure veterans receive accurate information about risks associated with using them at certain schools.
“Rather than being honored, the veterans who enrolled in Corinthian schools were cheated out of these benefits," Harris said. ED has acted to remedy the harms suffered by student borrowers who were defrauded by Corinthian and other unscrupulous institutions—we respectfully urge you to act in harmony with your sister agencies and offer similar relief to student veterans who were harmed by precisely the same misconduct,” Harris said.
The letter additionally calls on McDonald and the VA to support the efforts of state approving agencies and attorneys general.