Delivering results for student borrowers
As we close out 2023, we look back at a year of delivering billions of dollars of loan relief for our clients and taking on the most pressing issues they face through impact litigation and advocacy. Here are a few highlights. We couldn’t have done it without your support.
Delivering justice in Sweet v. Cardona
Settlement relief is underway in Sweet v. Cardona, changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of borrowers and their families. The Department of Education reports that nearly 150,000 class members have already received discharges, with more to come in 2024 and beyond. The profound impact of this $6 billion settlement cannot be understated.
Challenging predatory practices at the University of Southern California
In Spring 2023, PPSL filed a new lawsuit, Luna v. USC, against the University of Southern California. Our clients allege that USC’s online Master of Social Work program used misleading practices and targeted students of color for enrollment in the online program, which was largely run through USC’s for-profit online program manager (OPM), 2U, Inc. The case helped amplify scrutiny of OPMs, with PPSL supporting former USC online students who spoke at the Department of Education’s public listening session on the issue. While the case is still ongoing, last month USC announced it will wind down its longstanding partnership with 2U.
Exposing predatory practices in nursing programs
A year ago, a group of nursing students at Florida’s HCI College filed a lawsuit against the for-profit school for a deliberate scheme to block the vast majority of students from graduating and taking the RN licensing exam (NCLEX-RN), for misrepresenting its accreditation status and NCLEX passage rates, and for targeting students of color with its predatory product. The litigation has exposed the systematic fraud that has been perpetrated on aspiring nurses. Read the in-depth story by MedPage Today for more.
Final distribution of the ITT bankruptcy
In 2017, PPSL filed a class action on behalf of former ITT students. ITT Tech was one of the country’s largest for-profit college chains and a notorious bad actor; it was responsible for defrauding students for decades prior to closing in 2016 after scrutiny and public backlash over its deceptive and aggressive recruiting tactics. In February 2022, the bankruptcy court approved a plan to distribute some of the money from ITT's bankruptcy estate to former students. Under the terms of the distribution, class members will receive $62.5 million as a result of PPSL’s effort.
Holding servicers accountable during return to repayment
Without a doubt, this was a tumultuous year for student borrowers. As the repayment pause on federal student loans expired this past fall, we found that many borrowers—including class members in Sweet v Cardona and others who were promised discharges—were being wrongly swept into repayment. We sounded the alarm and were pleased to see the Department of Education take action to hold servicers like MOHELA accountable for failing to comply with the settlement.
Highlights in the news:
New York Times: Supreme Court Won’t Block Student Loan Class-Action Settlement
Washington Post: Defrauded student loan borrowers ask government to return their refunds
USA Today: MOHELA made borrowers delinquent. Now the student loan servicer is being penalized
2024 will certainly continue to bring new challenges—and we are ready to face them. We look forward to continuing to partner with you in our mission to end predatory practices in higher education.
Thank you for your support.
