On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered a federal district court to enter a nationwide preliminary injunction to enjoin the Department of Education (ED) from implementing the Biden...more
In a decision affecting the ever-shifting legal and regulatory dynamics of Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) claims, the Fifth Circuit postponed the effective date of a Biden administration plan to expand student debt...more
On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in CCST v. U.S. Dept. of Education, reversing the order of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and granting a...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals released a new decision in the NYLAG v. Cardona et al. case that may have implications for the everchanging legal and regulatory environment of Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) claims....more
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a statement on Nov. 8, 2023, saying that the scores of borrower defense to repayment (BDR) application notifications that institutions of higher education (IHE) have received in...more
A group of 23 Democratic AGs, led by Massachusetts AG Andrea Joy Campbell, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit case Career Colleges and Schools of Texas v. U.S. Department of Education, et...more
Over the past several months, institutions of higher education (IHE) have seen an influx of Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) applications from former students....more
Higher education clients who accept federal student loans may have recently received emails from the Department of Education (“Department”) notifying them of borrower defense claims seeking to avoid loan repayment obligations...more
On May 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) to substantially change or expand a host of regulatory requirements concerning...more
On November 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published in the Federal Register a final rule (the Final Rule) revising its regulations that govern multiple student loan discharge standards and...more
The US Department of Education published final regulations regarding the borrower defense to repayment rule in October 2022. In late October 2022, the US Department of Education (ED) published final regulations regarding...more
On July 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) to revise its regulations governing student loan discharge standards...more
Our Education Team examines how the Borrower Defense Rule is again expanding under the Biden Administration, beginning with a huge decision involving, for the first time, for-profit schools that are still operating. Nearly...more
On October 4, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) commenced the first of five negotiated rulemaking sessions. The five sessions are focused on the federal student financial aid programs authorized under Title IV of...more
A group of 22 state attorneys general joined by the District of Columbia AG filed a lawsuit in a California federal district court against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) seeking...more
On 23 September 2019 the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published final regulations concerning, among other things, "borrower defense to repayment" claims for federal student loans first disbursed on or after 1 July 2020,...more
On September 11, we published a detailed look at the portion of the Department of Education’s long-awaited revised Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule (BDTR) that focused on the elements directly impacting institutional...more
On September 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (ED or the Department) published in the Federal Register final regulations on Institutional Accountability, which revise its current regulations on borrower defenses to...more
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released final regulations for student borrower defense-to-repayment claims on August 30, 2019. The regulations create a number of notable changes, including permitting education...more
After announcing plans for a new rule last summer, only to miss the publication deadline, the Department of Education (ED) has – albeit still unofficially – issued its long awaited new update to the borrower defense to...more
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued additional guidance in the form of several supplemental "questions and answers" related to implementation of ED's 2016 "borrower defense to repayment" regulations (BDTR...more
• Recently released guidance from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) confirms that both private and public institutions of higher education must report litigation, settlements and other...more
As described in an earlier alert, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Education in November 2016 (the “Department”) concerning borrower defenses to repayment (the “2016 BDR Rules”), which the current...more
In December 2018, the Department of Education announced that it would begin implementing its “borrower defense” final rule which was issued in November 2016. ...more