Federal Court Refuses to Dismiss Student Defense Case Challenging DeVos’s Repeal of the Gainful Employment Rule

WASHINGTON, DC – A federal court ruled today that Student Defense’s lawsuit challenging the illegal repeal of the Gainful Employment rule can continue. On behalf of the American Federation of Teachers, the California Federation of Teachers, and two individuals, Student Defense sued Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education in January.

“The Court’s decision allows us to move forward and prove that Secretary DeVos repealed the Gainful Employment rule illegally and without justification,” said Student Defense Vice President and Chief Counsel Dan Zibel. “We are going to restore these protections for our clients and for the millions of students who enroll in for-profit and career college programs every year. Students deserve protection from schools that leave borrowers with worthless degrees and debt they can never repay.”

The Northern District of California court’s order denied the Department’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit in part, allowing the case to proceed. In the same ruling, the Court also declined to end a similar lawsuit brought by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on behalf of the State of California.

The court order is available here.

More background on the case, AFT v. DeVos, and related documents, can be found here.