Overview
- U.S. District Judge William Alsup denied the Education Department’s bid for an 18‑month extension to process borrower‑defense cases tied to the Sweet settlement.
- For applicants connected to 151 schools with evidence of misconduct, the court kept the Jan. 28, 2026 deadline to issue decisions or provide full settlement relief.
- For other post‑class applicants, the court set a new processing deadline of April 15, 2026.
- The department had argued it lacked capacity to resolve roughly 200,000 remaining applications by January, with filings noting an $11.8 billion outstanding loan balance for the final group.
- The agency said it is evaluating the order, while borrower advocates warned that staffing cuts and heavy volumes could trigger new backlogs.