Establishing Principles of Excellence for Educational Institutions Serving Service Members, Veterans, Spouses, and Other Family Members

This executive order creates consumer protections for military members, veterans, and their families using federal education benefits like the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Tuition Assistance Program. It establishes 'Principles of Excellence' requiring schools receiving these funds to provide clear cost information, end deceptive recruiting, ensure academic support, and strengthen complaint and enforcement systems across the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Education.

Federal Register Open PDF 77 FR 25861

Impact dates

Jul 26, 2012
Progress report on implementation to President, including revision of regulations, instructions, guidance, and policies
Jul 26, 2012
Plan to strengthen enforcement and compliance mechanisms submitted to President

Key directives

Establish Principles of Excellence for educational institutions receiving federal military and veterans education benefits
Require personalized standardized cost disclosure form before enrollment
Require notification of federal financial aid availability before private loans
End fraudulent and aggressive recruiting on military installations
Require accreditor approval for new programs
Guarantee readmission for service members/reservists with service obligations
Align institutional refund policies with Title IV unearned aid rules
Provide educational plans with graduation requirements and timeline
Designate point of contact for academic/financial/disability advising
Reflect Principles in new Yellow Ribbon and Tuition Assistance agreements
Post compliant institutions on VA website
Develop comparable student outcome measures across benefit programs

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

Agencies directed to take immediate action to implement order
Principles of Excellence established for new agreements with educational institutions

Near term (90d)

Progress report on implementation due to President
Plan to strengthen enforcement and compliance mechanisms due
Regulations and guidance documents to be revised

Long term

Development of comprehensive student outcome measures strategy
Collection and public posting of institution-level funding data on College Navigator Website
eBenefits portal updates for school comparison tools
Potential trademark protection for 'GI Bill' and related terms

Risks & tensions

Section 2 and 3 use 'to the extent permitted by law' and 'to the extent practicable' qualifiers, creating implementation uncertainty
Principles are 'strongly encouraged' for existing Post-9/11 GI Bill institutions rather than mandatory, weakening immediate leverage
Outcome measures development lacks specific deadline, risking indefinite delay
Trademark protection for 'GI Bill' flagged as 'as appropriate,' indicating legal uncertainty
Interagency coordination required across DOD, VA, Education, CFPB, DOJ, and SAAs creates bureaucratic friction risk
State authorization requirements referenced but states retain primary regulatory role over education