The department sought to redefine agreement conditions after missing a settlement deadline.
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously rejected the Department of Education’s appeal to delay student loan relief. A settlement agreement was reached in 2022, offering $23 billion in loan relief to over half a million student borrowers who said schools had misled them or acted fraudulently. The court determined that the department owes student loan relief to 170,000 borrowers after it missed the deadlines to decide on applicants’ status under the settlement’s terms.
While the department argued that the unforeseen influx in applicants was a proper excuse for slow administrative processing, the Ninth Circuit took issue with this claim, noting that no objection was raised by the department until three years later, which is not enough cause to adjust the settlement’s terms. The court ordered the department to deliver loan relief to post-class borrowers whose settlement applications were not decided on time.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Secretary McMahon and Education Department officials as they oversee the implementation of the settlement agreement.
- For federal judges as they hear cases regarding federal settlement details or consumer/borrower protection-related protections.
Sources: MSN, The College Investor
