Summary: The Veterans Administration's (VA) education loan program was evaluated to determine if the program's primary objective of providing additional financial aid to needy veterans attending high tuition schools was being accomplished. The evaluation also attempted to determine the default rate being experienced in the program and why participation in the program was so low in the northeast section of the country.
Two major factors limited the program's effectiveness in providing aid to students attending high tuition institutions: (1) the implementing regulations and program guidelines did not restrict loan eligibility to veterans attending high tuition schools because the authorizing legislation was silent on the subject; and (2) the VA has neither provided its regional offices with adequate criteria for evaluating veterans' financial needs nor adequately defined allowable expenses. As a result, about 72 percent of the loans made from the inception of the program in 1975 through December 1977 were made to veterans attending schools charging low tuition. The VA has not issued clear and comprehensive collection guidelines specifically related to the loan program and, as a result, about half the loans that have come due are in default. Participation in the Northeast was low because of the availability of other financial aid and because of limited promotion of the program.
