Arguing that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had undermined the agreement, a federal judge on Tuesday denied approval for a class action settlement over the Trump administration's handling of a student debt forgiveness program. U.S. District Judge William Alsup said DeVos had subverted the agreement by rejecting tens of thousands of applications from defrauded students without adequate explanation, Politico first reported.

Late Monday, a federal judge rejected a settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by former students who say they were defrauded by their for-profit colleges and want Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education to stop delaying action on their claims to have their student loan debt cancelled. Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled after holding an October 1 hearing, via Zoom, where people could address the court in favor of or against the settlement. In that settlement agreement, DeVos’s Department committed to move ahead with review of the students’ claims.

Months after vowing to process a backlog of 160,000 requests for loan forgiveness from students who say they were defrauded by their schools, the U.S. Education Department has rejected 94% of claims it has reviewed, according to a federal judge who is demanding justification for the “blistering pace” of denials.

Share to TwitterShare to LinkedInShare to EmailShare to Copy LinkIn a strongly worded order, a federal judge in California is signaling that he may put a stop to the Education Department’s nearly universal denials of requests by those who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges to have their student debts canceled.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup has denied a class settlement meant to address 160,000 student loan forgiveness claims that had gone undecided for over a year, saying Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had rejected too many claims without justification.