Higher Education: VA Should Provide Additional Information to Its Staff and Schools on the Rogers STEM Scholarship
Fast Facts
Over 7,000 veterans have used a Veterans Affairs' Rogers STEM scholarship to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math.
VA provides some training and guidance to help its staff process scholarship applications. But some STEM majors—like engineering and math—are easier to identify than others. Using VA data, we found over 100 instances where it appeared VA approved the scholarships for non-STEM majors. VA confirmed that it approved up to $1.7 million dollars for 56 scholarship applicants with ineligible majors.
Our recommendations include that VA better inform its staff on these scholarships.
Highlights
What GAO Found
More than 7,000 veterans have used the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship since the program began in August 2019. The scholarship provides financial assistance to eligible veterans pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The vast majority of veterans (99 percent) used the scholarship towards an undergraduate STEM degree, and about 2,000 veterans graduated while using the scholarship.
GAO found that the Department of Veterans Affairs has tools—such as staff training and guidance—to help ensure consistent Rogers STEM scholarship application processing, and more information for its staff and schools would bolster these efforts. Some STEM majors are easy to identify (e.g., engineering or mathematics). VA staff judgement becomes part of the application award process in the small number of applications where a veteran's major is not easily identifiable as STEM.
Using VA data, GAO identified more than 100 instances where VA potentially made erroneous scholarship award decisions because the major approved for the scholarship did not appear to be STEM. VA confirmed that in 56 instances it appeared the agency approved scholarships for veterans pursuing ineligible majors, such as applied management and construction management. These 56 instances reflect VA's approval of up to $1.7 million in scholarship funds for veterans to use toward majors not in STEM fields.
Through data analysis, review of VA documents, and interviews with VA staff, GAO identified two areas where VA could provide additional information to help ensure consistent scholarship award decisions. Specifically:
- Information for VA staff. VA does not have a complete list of eligible majors for its staff to use when processing applications and deciding whether to award the scholarship. VA also does not have formal procedures to ensure its staff raise questions or further examine applications with majors that appear to be non-STEM.
- Information for schools. School officials provide key information during the application process, however, the resources that VA provides to schools do not fully describe the school's role. As a result, schools do not always provide the information needed and VA may deny the scholarship to an otherwise eligible veteran, according to VA staff.
Providing this additional information to VA staff and schools can help ensure consistent scholarship award decisions.
Why GAO Did This Study
Veterans who received technical training in the military may be well suited to pursue degrees in STEM. The Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship provides up to $30,000 to assist veterans with continuing qualifying STEM programs after they exhaust their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 includes a provision for GAO to provide an interim and final assessment of the Rogers STEM scholarship program. This final assessment (1) reports the number of veterans that pursued and obtained STEM degrees using the Rogers STEM scholarship, and (2) evaluates how consistently VA processes Rogers STEM scholarship applications. GAO analyzed VA administrative data from August 2019 to June 2023, the most recently available data at the time of GAO's analysis. GAO also held four discussion groups with VA staff who process scholarship applications and reviewed relevant VA documents.
Recommendations
GAO is making four recommendations to VA, including developing additional information to aid VA staff who review scholarship applications and improving the information available to school officials. VA concurred with GAO's recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should clarify in its written resources for school certifying officials the role of schools in the Rogers STEM scholarship application process and the information needed from these officials. (Recommendation 1) |
VA agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to work with school certifying officials to better identify the role of schools in the Rogers STEM scholarship application process and clarify the information needed. It will update written resources based on their feedback. We will monitor VA's progress on this effort.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should clarify the Rogers STEM scholarship eligibility requirements for clinical training programs on its website and in the School Certifying Official Handbook. (Recommendation 2) |
VA agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to work with school certifying officials regarding eligibility requirements for clinical training programs and the interpretation of external partners. It will then clarify the eligibility requirements and update the necessary resources, to include updating its website and the Handbook. We will monitor VA's progress on these efforts.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should develop and implement formal procedures for VA staff to examine potentially mismatched STEM and non-STEM Classification of Instructional Programs codes and majors to ensure they accurately represent a veteran's major and the correct code for that major. (Recommendation 3) |
VA agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to formalize procedures to review and update the list of majors eligible for the scholarship. VA plans to publish this updated list so it is available to veterans claims examiners, school officials, and interested students. We will monitor's VA progress on this effort. We will monitor VA's progress on this effort.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should update the list of majors eligible for the Rogers STEM scholarship, ensure veterans claims examiners have access to a complete list, and make this complete list publicly available. (Recommendation 4) |
VA agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to formalize procedures to review and update the list of majors eligible for the scholarship. VA plans to publish this updated list so it is available to veterans claims examiners, school officials, and interested students. We will monitor VA's progress on this effort.
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