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 addressed this recommendation by adding information to the School Certifying Official handbook and modifying the email sent to these officials to request information needed to determine veteran eligibility for the Rogers STEM scholarship. Specifically, in August 2024, VA added a new section to the handbook that explains that school officials will receive an email asking for information VA needs to determine a veteran's eligibility for the scholarship. The handbook also now describes the specific information school officials will be asked to provide. The email asking for this information has also been modified to be clearer about what information VA is asking school officials to provide.
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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. As of August 2024, VA published new language in the School Certifying Official handbook that lists the eligibility requirements for clinical training programs. However, the language does not explicitly state that a covered clinical training program does not include graduate programs nor does VA's website. To address this recommendation, VA should revise the language to clarify that a covered clinical training program must be separate from a graduate degree program to be eligible for the scholarship. Then, VA should publish the revised language in the handbook and on its website.
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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. As of October 2024, VA published formal procedures for VA staff to examine potentially mismatched STEM and non-STEM Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) codes and majors. However, these procedures have contradictory instructions for VA staff. For example, it says that if the CIP code does not match the major, the program application should be denied. It also states, however, that the staff can email their manager to see if the major can be considered eligible. Allowing staff to make judgement calls based on partially correct information limits the usability of these procedures. To close this recommendation, VA should implement a formal set of procedures that ensure staff have the correct information regarding a veteran's major. This will help staff make accurate award decisions.
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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. VA reviewed the list of majors eligible for the Rogers STEM scholarship in April 2024, but has yet to include all eligible majors for the scholarship. For example, VA's claims examiner handbook shows that VA will approve the scholarship for individuals pursuing a degree in general psychology, management information systems general, and community health science. However, these majors do not appear on VA's publicly available list of majors eligible for the scholarship. Further, we reported that VA officials will approve any major closely related to a major on the eligible list, as defined by a list developed by the Department of Education. However, not every closely related major is on the list of majors eligible for the scholarship. To close this recommendation, VA should ensure all majors they will approve for the scholarship are on the eligible major list.
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