Tens of thousands of student loan borrowers who say their schools misled them may soon find out whether that debt will be cleared after a Thursday ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco.

“PPSL, representing student loan borrowers in the Sweet settlement, countered that the request for a delay was patently unreasonable: ‘Judge Alsup has imposed strict parameters to ensure accountability in this settlement, including a series of hearings to report progress and ensure that settlement relief is on track,’ said PPSL in a statement.“

“U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday denied the U.S. Department of Education's request for an 18-month extension to process over 200,000 loan cancellation applications for students claiming they were defrauded by colleges the attended, calling it ‘totally unacceptable.’”

The government will have to adjudicate all claims from applicants who attended schools with evidence of misconduct by the original January deadline but will get a three-month extension for all other claims.

In response to the Education Department’s request, lawyers for the borrowers slammed the department’s request: “Less than 12 weeks before the deadline, the Department reveals that not only is it behind schedule to meet that deadline, it never had a prayer of meeting the deadline,” PPSL said.

Hundreds of thousands of students who attended the colleges in question have been waiting for years for decisions on whether they will have their loans forgiven or not. The ongoing delays mean uncertainty and stress for those students and their families.