An investigation conducted by the Washington Post found that the Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP) failed to attract veterans and did not function as was designed. Congress created (VRRAP) to retain veterans who were unemployed due to the pandemic. Its goal was to serve 17,250 veterans. But as of August 1, only 6,800 veterans had enrolled, and just 397 got new jobs after graduating.
The study found that students encountered software issues with school-provided laptops and were often left without instruction for long periods of time. Some of the courses were also mismanaged. There was also a question about the timing of the program. It was passed in 2021 when the jobless rate among veterans had dropped from 6.5% to 4.4% in 2021 and 2.7% last month.
The findings also reveal that Congress failed to prevent for-profit entities from receiving Veterans Affairs tuition payments under the program. For example, Future Tech Career Institute was banned in 2021 from receiving tuition payments after it falsified reports and misled veterans. But it was able to participate in VRRAP after it changed its name.
