Education Department seeks delay in landmark borrower defense settlement
Natalie Schwartz
November 26, 2025
The agency said it needs more time to decide claims for nearly 200,000 borrowers who were promised decisions on their cases by January — or automatic relief.
Dive Brief:
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The U.S. Department of Education is asking a federal judge for an 18-month extension to decide borrower defense claims from students who were promised decisions by January — or automatic relief if their cases aren’t resolved by then.
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The nearly 200,000 borrowers still awaiting decisions are covered by a landmark 2022 settlement that promised automatic debt relief or timely decisions based on when borrowers filed claims and what institutions they attended.
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The Project on Predatory Student Lending, a nonprofit legal firm representing the borrowers, urged the judge overseeing the case to reject the Education Department’s request for an extension. “It is time for the Department to hold to its commitments and move this Settlement to its final phase,” the group said in a Nov. 21 court filing.
