Judge clears path for most Sweet v. Cardona loan cancellation to move forward

A federal judge denied a request to halt the $6 billion Sweet v. Cardona class-action settlement, bolstering a deal to end a lawsuit in which student loan borrowers accused the U.S. Department of Education of failing to act on applications to a program forgiving loans for borrowers who were misled by their colleges.
The judge’s order, issued Friday, clears the path for the Education Department to start discharging loan debt for many of 200,000 borrowers who say their colleges defrauded them.
But U.S. District Judge William Alsup temporarily blocked the settlement from taking effect for borrowers who attended three colleges that are fighting the settlement: for-profit American National University and Lincoln Educational Corp., and nonprofit Everglades College. Alsup gave those colleges seven days to ask an appeals court to block loan discharges for their former students while it weighs their case.