Student Defense serves as a voice for students in the nation’s capital. Relying on the Freedom of Information Act and other public records laws, we fight for increased government transparency on issues that impact students in higher education. Through these efforts, we seek to hold industry, higher education institutions, and federal agencies accountable. The tabs below contain summaries of our requests and links to the relevant materials.
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).
Student Defense launched an investigation into the extent to which the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) has ensured that colleges and universities comply with key civil rights laws.
Student Defense has aggressively advocated for student borrowers who find themselves facing Department opposition to their student debt bankruptcy proceedings.
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.
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 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.
The Department of Education has the authority to hold colleges and universities accountable when they violate the law and harm students.
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.
Student Defense represents former Dream Center students harmed by the schools' deceptive practices and sudden closures.
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.
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 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs administers the GI Bill and disburses billions of dollars annually to thousands of colleges and universities.
FOIA requests on topics that do not fit in the categories above.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 9, 2022 MEDIA CONTACTStudent Defense: press@defendstudents.org | 202-734-7495Accountable Tech: Jesse Lehrich | jesse@accountabletech.org Student Defense, Accountable Tech Worry FAFSA Student Data Sent to Facebook Could be Used...
The National Student Legal Defense Network (NSLDN) and American Oversight filed a lawsuit in federal court today, demanding that the U.S. Department of Education produce documents related to the Trump...
The request also seeks any statistical reports provided by the Social Security Administration to the Department about the matching rate or other assessment of the success of any data match,...
NSLDN has obtained, via a public records request, the three annual reports prepared by the Settlement Administrator in connection with the 2015 settlements between Education Management Corporation (“EDMC”) and 40...
On January 15, 2019, NSLDN submitted a FOIA request to the United States Department of Education seeking all documents constituting notice to either institutions of higher education or third-party servicers...