Federal judge denies request for 18-month delay in landmark borrower defense settlement
Natalie Schwartz
December 12, 2025
The U.S. Department of Education wanted more time to decide cases for borrowers promised decisions or automatic relief by the end of January.
Dive Brief:
A federal judge on Thursday denied the U.S. Department of Education’s request for an 18-month extension to decide borrower defense claim decisions due by the end of January, according to lawyers representing the borrowers.
The affected borrowers belong to the last of three groups covered under a landmark 2022 settlement with the Education Department to resolve a class-action lawsuit that accused the agency of stonewalling borrower defense applications. Under that agreement, the borrowers were set to receive automatic relief if the agency didn’t decide their cases by Jan. 28.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup declined to provide any extension on claims filed by borrowers who attended one of 151 institutions that the Education Department previously said had strong indications of engaging in “substantial misconduct.” For other borrowers, Alsup extended the deadline for the Education Department to resolve their cases to April 15.
