Posted July 17, 2026
Education Compliance Survey Specialist (ECSS)
Muskogee Regional Benefit Office
Washington, D.C.
Full Time
Reference: MuskogeeRegionalBenefitOffice876836600
This position serves as an Education Compliance Specialist (ECSS) on the Investigations, Compliance, and Enforcement team within the Program Oversight & Accountability Division and is located geographically disbursed across the United States and responsible for providing compliance oversight of educational and training institutions within an assigned portfolio in support of EDU's mission. This position reports directly to the Supervisory Program Oversight Specialist. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.
Note: You may submit unofficial transcripts when applying. However, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to provide an official transcript or a statement from the institution (e.g., from the registrar, dean, or other appropriate official) or equivalent documentation prior to the start date. Specific duties include:
This position serves as an Education Compliance Specialist (ECSS) on the Investigations, Compliance, and Enforcement team within the Program Oversight & Accountability Division and is located geographically disbursed across the United States and responsible for providing compliance oversight of educational and training institutions within an assigned portfolio in support of EDU's mission. This position reports directly to the Supervisory Program Oversight Specialist.
Typical duties will include (not all inclusive):
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. The grade progression for this position is GS-09 and GS-11.
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Position Description/PD#: Education Compliance Survey Specialist (ECSS); 38798-A and 38799-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/24/2026.
TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements.
The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
GS-09 Grade Level:
Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.
Physical Requirements: The job requires driving in government owned automobiles, often very long distances requiring overnight lodging. Some walking and climbing of stairs is required since interviews with VA beneficiaries are conducted at the residences of the beneficiaries.
For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit.
Note: You may submit unofficial transcripts when applying. However, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to provide an official transcript or a statement from the institution (e.g., from the registrar, dean, or other appropriate official) or equivalent documentation prior to the start date. Specific duties include:
This position serves as an Education Compliance Specialist (ECSS) on the Investigations, Compliance, and Enforcement team within the Program Oversight & Accountability Division and is located geographically disbursed across the United States and responsible for providing compliance oversight of educational and training institutions within an assigned portfolio in support of EDU's mission. This position reports directly to the Supervisory Program Oversight Specialist.
Typical duties will include (not all inclusive):
- Prepares for compliance survey (audit) of an education and training program by examining and reviewing various informational sources.
- Examines education records for enrolled students and ascertains enrollment data and award actions.
- Verifies institution has provided appropriate forms for compliance with Equal Opportunity Laws, Conflicting Interest and other documents required for SAA program approval of Veteran education benefits.
- Conducts investigation and evaluations pertaining to compliance with provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 404 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. Interviews students and school administrators or employees during the course of investigation to substantiate or refute allegations.
- Complete assigned Targeted Risked Based Reviews (TRBR) and Risk-Based Surveys (RBS).
- Conducts entrance and exit-briefings at educational and or training establishments, delineating results of survey findings with School Certifying Officials.
- Prepares compliance survey report which indicates whether discrepancies found on a prior survey have or have not been corrected, report any discrepancy found on the current survey and explains what additional action, if any, is required.
- Record payment discrepancies to include direct overpayments or underpayments made to the educational institution on behalf of a GI Bill beneficiary.
- Refer institution approval and payment discrepancies for action, as appropriate, to other VA personnel, and/or other regulatory agency and provides recommendations in cases of egregious or negligent reporting errors or possible fraud.
- Assists with liaison visits to educational institutions and training establishments. Aids in the preparation and dissemination of necessary compliance information, conducts face to face training, addresses deficiencies found during a compliance survey, and presents at school conferences and workshops advising school officials about VA regulations and directives.
- Other duties as assigned.
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. The grade progression for this position is GS-09 and GS-11.
Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.
Position Description/PD#: Education Compliance Survey Specialist (ECSS); 38798-A and 38799-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:07/24/2026.
TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements.
- For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level.
- For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level.
The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
GS-09 Grade Level:
- Specialized Experience: To qualify, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-07) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as work that involves:
- Demonstrates experience and knowledge of Federal and State laws, regulations, executive orders, agency rules and policies for benefit programs.
- Demonstrates knowledge identifying issues and analyzes information to draw accurate conclusions, ensuring careful attention to detail. Dissects problems and information into their meaningful parts and uses logic and judgment to evaluate alternatives and develop solutions.
- Demonstrates knowledge of procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with laws, regulations, and guidance.
- Demonstrates knowledge of generally accepted auditing standards, procedures, and reports. -OR-
- Education Substitution: You must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related.
-
Specialized Experience: To qualify at the GS-11 grade, you must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level or higher. Specialized experience should include demonstrated experience and knowledge of Federal and State education laws, regulations, executive orders, agency rules and policies for VA Education benefits; identifying issues and analyzes information to draw accurate conclusions, ensuring careful attention to detail by dissecting information into their meaningful parts and uses logic and judgment to evaluate an organization's records management; Demonstrated experience with procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with laws, regulations, and guidance; Knowledge of generally accepted auditing standards and procedures for conducting financial and/or record keeping reviews/audits. Demonstrated experience providing management with detailed reports of discrepancies/findings based on review/audit.
-OR- - Education Substitution: You must have at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related.
Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week.
Physical Requirements: The job requires driving in government owned automobiles, often very long distances requiring overnight lodging. Some walking and climbing of stairs is required since interviews with VA beneficiaries are conducted at the residences of the beneficiaries.
For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.
