When a school closes, some student borrowers become eligible to have their student loans discharged. The Department assesses school liabilities equal to the loan funds discharged and may assess liabilities against schools as an enforcement mechanism.

The status of Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (“ACICS”) as a recognized accreditor is familiar to the Department as it has been the subject of numerous Secretarial orders, FOIA requests, and federal lawsuits.

Student Defense has aggressively advocated for student borrowers who find themselves facing Department opposition to their student debt bankruptcy proceedings.

Student Defense (and co-counsel Relman Colfax PLLC) filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Walden University engaged in fraudulent business practices, costing former students more than $28 million in overpaid tuition (Carroll v. Walden).

Under the Higher Education Act, individuals who are totally and permanently disabled ("TPD") are eligible to have their federal student loans forgiven. Many eligible borrowers have not been granted the relief they deserve.

The Borrower Defense rule is a federal regulation establishing that student loan borrowers may be eligible for forgiveness of the federal student loans used to attend a school, if that school misled them or engaged in other illegal conduct.

Student Defense represents former Dream Center students harmed by the schools' deceptive practices and sudden closures.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs administers the GI Bill and disburses billions of dollars annually to thousands of colleges and universities.

The U.S. Department of Education is required to monitor and evaluate the financial stability of schools that receive Title IV funds. The Department should ensure that institutions, not taxpayers, bear the cost of schools' mismanagement or failure.

The Department of Education has the authority to hold colleges and universities accountable when they violate the law and harm students.

FOIA requests on topics that do not fit in the categories above.

The Gainful Employment Regulation was designed to ensure that students in vocational and for-profit programs would be able to earn enough money to repay their loans.