Are you making a smart college choice? Questions to ask - GI Bill, Tuition Assistance, Veterans Education Benefits, Military College Credit, Military to Civilian Transitions - Navy Times

Are you making a smart college choice? Questions to ask

Trying to decide whether a school is worth your education benefits? During a presentation at the Defense Department’s Worldwide Education Symposium in Las Vegas, Holly Petraeus, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Servicemember Affairs, suggested several questions to ask your school — and yourself — to keep from being taken advantage of and to ensure you’re making wise use of your limited benefits.

Questions to ask yourself:

* Did you thoroughly research your higher-education options?

* Have you compared costs among multiple schools?

* Do you know whether your military benefits will cover the school’s costs?

* If not, how do you plan to make up the difference?

* What has the school told you about financial aid?

* Have school representatives said or done anything suspicious that you think might need to be reported?

Questions to ask your school:

* How many students use up their military benefits and go into debt from college costs?

* How many students use private student loans?

* What is the student loan default rate?

* Does the school have the necessary accreditation?

* Do academic credits transfer to other schools?

* How many students who start with the school graduate?

* How many students who start a vocational program sit for the licensing exam, and how many of those pass?

* What is the professor-to-student ratio?

* How many career counselors are there to help students?

* What is the percentage of students who find jobs in their fields of study?