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  • Date:

    U.S. Dep.’t of Education Guidance on Borrower Defense School Notification Process (Nov. 8, 2023)

    U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid Guidance on Borrower Defense School Notification Process Under the 2016 Regulation. The electronic announcement concerns the notices of borrower defense applications from June 23, 2022, to November 15, 2022, ED is sending to schools under the settlement reached in the Sweet v. Cardona litigation, which required that the applications be processed under the 2016 Regulation. The guidance clarifies that under the 2016 Regulation, ED must notify schools of the applications prior to any substantive review. It also notes that if ED decides after its review to approve applications and if it decides to seek recoupment, schools will have the opportunity to contest any recoupment before a hearing officer. The guidance also notes that “ED is attempting to batch applications so schools receive all claims from the June 23 to Nov. 15 period in a single notification.”   

    Topics:

    Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students

  • Date:

    Update: U.S. Dep.’t of Education Final Regulations on Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, Ability to Benefit (ATB) (Oct. 24, 2023)

    U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Final Regulations on Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, and Ability to Benefit (ATB). Among key provisions, the new regulations require that institutions provide adequate financial aid counseling and information, including cost of attendance information; new mandatory and discretionary triggers to give the Department with notice when an institution might not be able to be able to meet its financial responsibilities; a requirement that institutions certify that in each State where they enroll students, including through distance programs, that they meet applicable accreditation and licensure requirements and comply with State laws related to closures; a requirement that institutions provide, upon a student’s request, an official transcript reflecting all credit or clock hours for periods in which a student received Title IV funds; and a requirement that institutions provide adequate career services and clinical or externship opportunities. The Department also released a Fact Sheet on the new regulations, which become effective on July 1, 2024. Update: The Department of Education published the final regulations in the Federal Register on October 31, 2023.  

    Topics:

    Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Students

  • Date:

    Khan v. Yale Univ. (2nd Cir. Oct. 25, 2023)

    Opinion affirming-in-part and vacating-in-part dismissal and remanding. In 2015, Jane Doe, a student at Yale University, accused plaintiff, also a student at Yale, of sexual assault. In 2018, after he was found not guilty in a state criminal trial, the University conducted a disciplinary hearing and expelled him for violating its Sexual Misconduct Policy. Plaintiff subsequently sued Doe and Yale for defamation and tortious interference with a contract. The district court dismissed plaintiff’s claims, finding that Doe enjoyed an absolute quasi-judicial immunity for her statements to the 2018 disciplinary hearing and that plaintiff’s claims as to Doe’s 2015 statements were time-barred. After the Connecticut Supreme Court opined in response to questions certified to it that Yale’s disciplinary procedure lacked necessary procedural safeguards—such as an oath requirement, cross-examination, the ability to call witnesses, meaningful assistance of counsel, and an adequate record for appeal—to constitute a quasi-judicial proceeding to support Doe’s assertion of immunity, the Second Circuit vacated dismissal of plaintiff’s claims as to statements made during the 2018 disciplinary hearing that resulted in his expulsion. It affirmed that his claims as to Doe’s 2015 statements were time-barred.   

    Topics:

    Constitutional Issues | Due Process | Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration | Students | Title IX & Student Sexual Misconduct | Tort Litigation

  • Date:

    Florance v. Barnett (7th Cir. Oct. 25, 2023)

    Order affirming dismissal. Plaintiff, a former Indiana University School of Medicine student, brought due process claims against multiple University officials related to student loan collections. Plaintiff took a student loan through a program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Later, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), rated him as having a permanent and total disability. As he appeared to be gainfully employed and did not meet the statutory requirements for cancelation, the University declined to recommend cancelation of the loan and initiated collections proceedings against him. After plaintiff disputed HHS’s initial denial of his request for cancelation, HHS canceled his loan, and the University dismissed the collections case. In affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s claims, the Seventh Circuit held that he did not have a protected interest in loan cancellation since under the HHS loan program whether a borrower qualifies for cancelation due to a disability is a discretionary determination left to HHS, not an entitlement determined by the VA’s disability rating.   

    Topics:

    Constitutional Issues | Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Due Process | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Students

  • Date:

    U.S. Dep.’t of Education Final Regulations on Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, Ability to Benefit (ATB) (Oct. 24, 2023)

    U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Final Regulations on Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, and Ability to Benefit (ATB). Among key provisions, the new regulations impose new mandatory and discretionary triggers to allow the Department notice when an institution might not be able to be able to meet its financial responsibilities, and also require that institutions (1) provide adequate financial aid counseling and information, including cost of attendance information; (2) certify that they meet applicable accreditation and licensure requirements and comply with State laws related to closures for each State where they enroll students, including through distance programs; (3) provide an official transcript reflecting all credit or clock hours for periods in which the student received Title IV funds, when requested by a student; and (4) provide adequate career services and clinical or externship opportunities. The Department also released a Fact Sheet on the new regulations. The new regulations become effective on July 1, 2024.   

    Topics:

    Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Students

  • Date:

    ACE Database on Post-SFFA v. Harvard & UNC Decision Resource: Admissions and Beyond (Oct. 16, 2023)

    Database from the American Council on Education (ACE) of Post-SFFA v. Harvard & UNC Decision Resources. This new website will house “a variety of external articles, tools, research, analyses, and other materials that may be of interest” as institutions consider their policies, practices, and initiatives following the Supreme Court’s decision.  

    Topics:

    Admissions | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Students

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