The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that blocked the Biden administration’s expansion of benefits under a federal program aimed at forgiving student loans for borrowers defrauded by higher education institutions. On Friday, the justices granted the U.S. Department of Education’s petition for writ of certiorari, but limited the review to one question: whether the Fifth Circuit was correct in finding that the Education Act does not allow borrower defenses to repayment to be assessed before default, in administrative proceedings, or on a group basis.
The Education Department filed the petition in October, seeking to reverse the Fifth Circuit panel’s decision that halted changes to a program allowing student borrowers to have their loans forgiven if they were defrauded by their educational institutions. The contested rule is part of the borrower defense section of the U.S. Code, which is separate from President Biden’s broader student loan forgiveness initiative that the Supreme Court blocked in 2023.
