Lawsuit kills GIBill.com in a victory for veterans

For the past four years an outfit called QuinStreet, which bills itself as a leader in vertical marketing, has snared veterans on its GIBill.com website and then steered them to its for-profit school clients.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, along with 20 other state attorney generals, filed a lawsuit against QuinStreet for its predatory marketing practices to vets and today announced a settlement that calls for the company to pay a penalty of $2.5 million and transfer the GIBill.com website to the Veterans Affairs Department.

The settlement comes as VA is seeking legal authority to trademark the term GI Bill. An executive order signed by President Obama on April 26 directed VA and the Department of Defense to undertake a number of measures to “stop deceptive and misleading” promotional efforts that target the GI Bill educational benefits of Service members, veterans, and eligible family members and survivors.

This is a real victory for vets who want to use their GI Bill benefits in the best way they can, which in most cases means going to colleges that put education first and have no profit motive.