Student Borrowers Respond to Department of Education's Effort to Renege on Settlement Relief Agreement in Borrower Defense Lawsuit
ED is Asking for 18-Month Delay Just Weeks Before Court-Ordered Deadline
BOSTON, MA (November 21, 2025) — The Project on Predatory Student Lending (PPSL) and student borrowers in the class action lawsuit Sweet v. McMahon (formerly Sweet v. Cardona) filed a response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s request for an 18-month extension of a major deadline in the court-ordered settlement agreement. With less than 12 weeks to go before the settlement deadline in the landmark borrower defense lawsuit, this request would further delay legally owed relief to nearly 200,000 post-class applicants (people who submitted a borrower defense application between June 23, 2022, and November 16, 2022).
PPSL heard from over twenty thousand post-class members about how ED’s requested delay would cause significant financial harm to borrowers. Thirty-five of their stories are included in PPSL’s filing with the court, and excerpts are noted below.
“As the outpouring of responses from our clients makes clear, this delay is not harmless. Hundreds of thousands are suffering real consequences every day they are forced to wait with fraudulent loans hanging over their heads, as they struggle to get by with destroyed credit and needless damage to their financial and personal well-being,” said Eileen Connor, President and Executive Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending. “The government’s years-long failure to do what it promised to do does not negate a legally binding, court-ordered settlement deadline. For three years, these hard-working student borrowers have had January 28, 2026 marked on their calendars as the date they can finally move forward with their lives. To move the goal posts on them at this late date is cruel and contemptuous. We look forward to arguing this in court.”
The issue will be argued at the December 11, 2025 status conference at 8:00 a.m. PT/11:00 a.m. ET. The Zoom link will be available on the Court’s website under “Zoom Hearing Instructions.”
The Sweet v. McMahon settlement, approved in November 2022, gave the Department of Education more than three years to issue decisions on borrower defense applications for “post-class” members — largely former students of predatory for-profit colleges whose applications were filed between June and November 2022. Under the settlement agreement, if the government does not issue decisions by the deadline, post-class members are entitled to receive full settlement relief, including discharges of all loans from their borrower defense school.
The Sweet case was brought on behalf of federal student loan borrowers who were defrauded by for-profit colleges and whose borrower defense claims were unlawfully delayed or ignored by the Department of Education. The case resulted in a landmark settlement requiring the government to cancel loans or issue timely decisions under a strict court-ordered schedule. Relief under the settlement is valued at over $6 billion, ultimately impacting over 500,000 borrowers across all classes.
The case was originally filed as Sweet v. DeVos, later updated to Sweet v. Cardona, and is now Sweet v. McMahon, following changes in federal leadership.
For more information about the case, visit PPSL’s webpage on Sweet v. McMahon.
Excerpts from Sweet class member declarations:
Akram Jaber, ITT Tech, Greenville, South Carolina. “With a new baby, every dollar matters, and the uncertainty keeps us from planning things. Even just knowing I might have to start paying these loans again makes me feel like I’m always on the edge and may have to choose which bills to pay first. I’ve already put off medical and dental care and some baby expenses because of my fears of having even more debt.” Read Akram’s full declaration here.
Alysse Roberts, Le Cordon Bleu, Andover, Minnesota. “I went to Le Cordon Bleu because I needed to provide for my one year old daughter and because they told me that they would help me find a good paying job afterwards. These promises were completely false, and the school closed a few years after I completed the program. These student loans have hung over my head for years and destroyed my credit. Recently, my husband’s cancer recurred and he is now unable to work. The uncertainty of my outstanding student loans only adds to the stress and anxiety we are experiencing from my husband’s illness. Read Alysse’s full declaration here.
Contessa Tracy, Argosy University, Laurel, Maryland: “As a service member, I made a commitment to serve my country and I have continued to uphold that commitment while also carrying the weight of unresolved student loan issues tied to an institution that misled students and misused federal aid funds. Because my application remains in limbo, I am not receiving credit toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This means that every month of delay pushes my financial future further out of reach and traps me in debt that would be forgiven if the Department honored the timelines promised under this settlement.” Read Contessa’s full declaration here.
Lacricia Lee, Kaplan University, Las Vegas, Nevada: “Kaplan University and UEI promised me that they would help me achieve all of my goals, but both of these schools left me with nothing but debt. I still want to get an education and am trying to work towards a degree that will give my family some stability but my uncertainty about my student loan debt from these two predatory schools is a constant source of worry. I have very little debt other than my student loans, but my family and I live paycheck to paycheck and I am never able to get ahead or save money for emergencies. My family was homeless for nearly a year before we found housing in March 2025 and I am scared of what will happen if my student loans go back into repayment.” Read Lacricia’s full declaration here.
Alice Zafiris, Argosy University, Arlington, Virginia: “To hear the Department describe borrowers like me as receiving a ‘windfall’ is profoundly demoralizing. There is nothing windfall-like about years of waiting, mounting debt, and living in constant financial instability. We are not opportunists; we are people who believed the settlement meant what it said. Delaying this decision by an additional 18 months, as the Department has requested, is not simply a bureaucratic adjustment; it is a direct act that will continue to cause severe, escalating, and unnecessary harm to me and my family.” Read Alice's full declaration here.
About The Project on Predatory Student Lending
The Project on Predatory Student Lending (PPSL) is the leading legal organization representing student borrowers against predatory for-profit colleges and the policies that enable institutions to exploit and cheat students. PPSL uses bold, strategic litigation and advocacy to demand accountability in the higher education space and influence policy solutions to create a more just and affordable education system. PPSL represents more than two million student borrowers and its work has resulted in cancellation of more than $30 billion of fraudulent student loan debt.
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