President Obama's Executive Order 13607 establishing principles of excellence for educational institutions servicing service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members was published in the Federal Register on May 2, 2012. The Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs (VA), and Education, in conjunction with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, conducted three webinars titled Executive Order 13607 and the Principles of Excellence.

Purpose
The executive order's Principles of Excellence are designed to:

• Enhance resources and student support services available to service members and veterans to pursue a higher education.
• Encourage agencies to expand oversight activities to better address student concerns, and ensure that students receive quality educational opportunities in exchange for their federal education benefits.
• Challenge agencies to learn more about the students they serve through outcome measures that can inform future initiatives.

VA requests schools submit intent to comply by August 1
On May 31, 2012, the VA sent a letter to educational institutions explaining the Principles and requested that schools submit to the VA their intent to comply by June 30, 2012. The letter stated that a school's agreement is confirmation that it will adhere to the Principles of Excellence by the end of academic year 2012-2013.

On June 29, 2012, the VA sent another letter to schools stating that this deadline was extended to August 1, 2012. Schools may send their intent to comply with the Principles of Excellence by submitting an email with their school name and contact person to principles.excellence@va.gov.

More information
A list of schools that have submitted their intent to comply can be found on the VA's website.

In an electronic announcement dated June 29, 2012, ED announced the availability of the recorded webinar which can be accessed at Executive Order 13607.