CHARLESTON —
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission could not intervene on behalf of veteran students at Mountain State University when problems surfaced because a federal law eliminated its authority to monitor the educational quality of the school’s programs, a commission official said.
If not for the 2010 law, the commission could have addressed Mountain State’s approval for Veterans Affairs education benefits a year ago, said Skip Gebhart, who coordinates veterans education and training programs with the commission.
The federal law was designed to help veterans receive education benefits. It contains a provision that took away state officials’ authority to monitor the quality of educational programs at accredited nonprofit colleges and universities receiving VA funds for veterans’ education. State approval is no longer required for these schools to receive the VA funds.
According to the commission, veterans attending Mountain State received between $3 million and $5 million in benefits last year. The school had about 350 veteran students last year.
“Mountain State was accredited and not for profit, so it was not under our jurisdiction except for a compliance survey,” Gebhart told the Charleston Gazette. “We can now only look at finances. And things are practically perfect at Mountain State as far as paperwork goes. But the paperwork can be perfect and the education can be lousy.”
In June, the Higher Learning Commission revoked Mountain State’s accreditation, effective Aug. 27, because of leadership, organizational and integrity issues. The commission this week extended the accreditation until Dec. 31 while the private Beckley university appeals.
Gebhart said state higher education officials believe states should have the authority to approve and monitor all private schools, both nonprofit and for-profit.
The state commission has proposed a policy, prompted in part by Mountain State’s accreditation issues, that would give it the authority to demand annual data on student retention rates, transfer information, licensure pass rates and loan default rates from every private college in West Virginia. If the Legislature approves the proposal, it would go into effect by November 2013.
West Virginia
Law limits state oversight of Mountain State University
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