WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, along with 18 other senators, sent a letter to Secretary Arne Duncan of the U.S. Department of Education, highlighting that even though some for-profit colleges are being investigated for deceptively recruiting and enrolling veterans, service members, and their families as a way to evade the current 90/10 rule, there are actually no limits on the amount of federal funding that for-profit colleges can receive due to a loophole in the 90/10 rule. In an effort to help service members and veterans make more informed decisions when choosing where to enroll in school, the senators called on Secretary Duncan to publish the amount and percentage of for-profit colleges’ and universities’ revenues that are received from all federal education programs, in addition to calculations required by current law, in the report required by the Higher Education Act.

The current federal 90/10 rule bars for-profit colleges and universities from deriving more than 90% of their revenue from the U.S. Department of Education’s federal student aid programs. The other 10% must come from sources other than the federal government. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that schools are not counting on taxpayer dollars to be their sole source of revenue.

But because of the 90/10 loophole, veteran and military educational benefits – such as Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits and the Department of Defense’s Tuition Assistance funds – do not currently count toward the 90 percent cap on federal dollars. As a result, some for-profit education companies have been found to aggressively recruit and enroll veterans, service members, and their families as a way to evade the 90/10 rule.

“We write to ask you to better protect service members and veterans from being targeted and exploited by some for-profit colleges by publishing the amount and percentage of revenue received by these institutions from all federal educational programs,” wrote the senators. “According to 2013 analysis from the Department of Education obtained by the Center for Investigative reporting, 133 for-profit colleges received more than 90 percent of their revenues from taxpayers when DOD and VA benefits were counted as federal education assistance, and another 292 institutions received more than 85 percent. The now-collapsed Corinthian Colleges chain received $186 million in VA Post-9/11 GI Bill dollars alone.”

In addition to Murphy and Blumenthal, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Gary Peters (D-Mich), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Secretary Duncan:

We write to ask you to better protect service members and veterans from being targeted and exploited by some for-profit colleges by publishing the amount and percentage of revenue received by these institutions from all federal educational programs.

As you know, a loophole in federal law currently allows for-profit colleges to exceed the 90 percent federal revenue cap, known as the 90/10 rule, by enrolling service members and veterans who have access to additional, non-Title IV federal educational assistance, including Department of Defense (DOD) Tuition Assistance and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits. Together, these programs account for billions of dollars a year. According to 2013 analysis from the Department of Education obtained by the Center for Investigative reporting, 133 for-profit colleges received more than 90 percent of their revenues from taxpayers when DOD and VA benefits were counted as federal education assistance, and another 292 institutions received more than 85 percent. The now-collapsed Corinthian Colleges chain received $186 million in VA Post-9/11 GI Bill dollars alone.

The negative effects of this loophole for students and taxpayers have been well documented in news articles and Congressional investigations and reports. It has led to aggressive marketing and recruitment of service members and veterans. Among the top for-profit recipients of Post-9/11 GI Bill funds, seven of the eight companies are currently under investigation for deceptive and misleading recruiting or other possible violations of state and federal law. Investigations are being undertaken by state Attorneys General and by federal agencies including the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

We were pleased that President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget proposed closing the 90/10 loophole by ensuring that all forms of federal education assistance fall under the statutory federal revenue cap. We plan to continue legislative efforts during the 114th Congress to accomplish this goal. But in the meantime, we ask that the Department include the amount and percentage of institutions’ revenues that are received from all federal educational programs, in addition to calculations required by current law, when it publishes the report required by Section 487(d)(4) of the Higher Education Act.

Publishing this information will move toward the President’s stated policy objective and provide a more accurate picture of the for-profit industry’s heavy reliance on federal taxpayers for many of their operations. Publishing this data will also help inform debate in Congress as we continue to grapple with budgetary challenges and decisions on where we should be spending precious federal education assistance. Most importantly, it will help our service members and veterans make more informed decisions when choosing where to go to college.

Thank you for your prompt reply.