NH Learning Solutions VA Settlement: Scholarships, Waivers and VA Tuition Claims

NH Learning Solutions agreed to pay $975,000 in a VA settlement over allegations that its tuition invoices failed to deduct scholarships, grants or waivers. If you work in school finance or certify veterans’ enrollment, the difference between the tuition on a student’s account and the amount reported to VA may be familiar.

The settlement agreement describes NH Learning as a vocational-school operator under New Horizons franchise agreements. This page follows its alleged invoice practice and settlement, while our page on GI Bill school payments explains the broader enrollment and tuition process. The shared franchise name also appears in a separate Five Point Enterprises case, whose agreement expressly kept NH Learning’s case separate.

What Did NH Learning Solutions Report on Its VA Tuition Invoices?

The Justice Department alleged that NH Learning reported tuition without subtracting scholarships, grants or waivers at five locations in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. Its settlement announcement connected those omissions to excessive payments under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The last payer rule required the school to subtract applicable assistance before billing the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The company was based in Livonia, Michigan and offered programs that did not lead to college degrees. The settlement agreement describes its vocational-school operations as continuing until 2021 and says it obtained approval from the state approving agency where each school operated to enroll veterans in those programs. That approval put the schools in a position to receive veterans’ education payments.

Under the program described in the agreement, the Department of Veterans Affairs paid tuition and fees directly to the schools, while veterans received separate housing and book benefits. The Justice Department’s allegation concerned what the school asked VA to pay after giving veterans tuition assistance. We see two prices in the Justice Department’s allegation: one for the veteran and another for taxpayers. The discount disappeared on the way to VA.

How Does a Scholarship Change a VA Tuition Claim?

A scholarship or waiver that reduces the tuition VA is supposed to cover must carry through to the net charge reported for payment. Scholarships not deducted from a VA tuition invoice were central to the NH Learning allegations because the amount requested could exceed the tuition left after institutional assistance.

A scholarship award or waiver decision explains the reduction, and the student’s tuition ledger shows how the school applied it. The VA submission shows what the school reported for payment. We compare those records with the insider who understands the charges and the payment the school received.

VA’s certification guidance available in October 2026 describes the certifying official’s work: reporting the program, dates, class format, credit or clock hours, and applicable charges through Enrollment Manager. It also describes a second Chapter 33 certification after the drop/add period to verify actual tuition and fees, including an amendment when the amount stays unchanged. That later confirmation gives a finance or certification employee another place to see whether the reported charge matches the account.

Do Veterans’ School Benefits Use the Same Rules as Title IV Aid?

Veterans’ school benefits use a separate payment system from Title IV aid. VA school payments depend on their own program approvals, enrollment certifications and net tuition reporting, while Pell Grants and Direct Loans run through the Education Department’s student-aid system. NH Learning’s settlement concerned Post-9/11 GI Bill claims sent to VA.

The NH Learning Solutions VA Settlement

The Justice Department announced the NH Learning settlement on October 8, 2024, resolving the tuition-billing allegations in its Eastern District of Michigan lawsuit. The signed agreement designated $487,500 of the settlement amount as restitution within that civil payment.

The Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and the VA Office of Inspector General pursued the case. Within the wider set of education fraud settlements, NH Learning shows how a school’s own tuition reductions can become central to a government payment case.

Why Five Point Is a Separate New Horizons Case

Five Point Enterprises was another New Horizons franchise operator with its own settlement. Its agreement specifically excluded NH Learning and the Michigan litigation from the release of claims.

The Justice Department’s allegations against Five Point included failure to report scholarships or tuition reductions under the last payer rule. They also concerned the 85/15 rule: how the company counted students whose education the school or VA supported, including recipients of its Success Through Learning scholarship. School assistance therefore mattered to both the tuition amount and the student count in that case.

NH Learning’s alleged invoice omissions give a school finance employee a narrower comparison: what tuition remained after scholarships, grants or waivers, and what the company reported to VA. Five Point’s separate agreement shows why the operator and the particular submission matter even when the school signs carry the same name.

What Can a School Insider’s Records Show?

The useful evidence connects school records to public payments: the assistance awarded, the charge remaining, the amount certified and the money received. In a case about net tuition, we examine those connections with the person who understands how the school applied its scholarships and waivers. An account entry can mean much more when someone can explain who made it, what it changed and which office received that information.

If your work involves certifying charges, you may know which tuition figure reached VA and whether a later amendment changed it. If you work with student accounts, you may know when the scholarship or waiver reduced the charge and how the payment posted. Those views can meet at the same invoice, even when neither employee controlled the whole process.

What people knew also matters. Instructions about which charges to report, communications about reductions and the response when amounts did not match can connect an overstatement to the decisions behind it. Our work with an insider is to understand that connection and the public money affected.

A whistleblower case under the False Claims Act can pay 15% to 30% of what the government recovers. If you recognize this tuition-billing pattern in your own work, speak to one of our whistleblower experts about building your strongest VA tuition case.

You Know Which Tuition Figure Reached VA

If you saw a scholarship reduce a student’s charge while the VA bill stayed at the higher amount, speak to one of our whistleblower experts about how the scholarship vanished from the VA bill. We work alongside you to build your strongest GI Bill whistleblower case, bring in education fraud whistleblower lawyers who understand VA tuition claims, and stay with you through the case.