I Was Wrong (About Charlotte School of Law)

Update: Go here to read a post at the Faculty Lounge blog that reports CSL's side of the story of its impasse with the DOE. Of particular interest with respect to the law school's strategy: "Their current plan is to substantially cut costs and try to ride things out this semester, while appealing to the incoming Trump administration, which Infilaw expects to be more friendly to the for-profit education industry [sic]."

When the federal Department of Education first announced that it would no longer permit students at Charlotte School of Law to borrow federally subsidized student loans, I posted here that I expected the parties to smooth over matters for the spring semester. Turns out I was wrong. Go here to read the latest from the Charlotte Observer. First, the apparent good news:

In a statement sent to Charlotte School of Law’s students Wednesday, a top U.S. Department of Education official said his agency and the law school had reached an agreement in principle that would have freed up some of the federal loan money in time for the planned start of classes Monday. 

What happened? 

Instead, Charlotte School of Law “has since rejected what it had previously accepted and has informed the Department that it will not be accepting the conditions set.”

In other words, no federal loans for CSL students this spring.

What's worse?

With an agreement now off the table ... the Charlotte students also don’t qualify for the full and partial tuition refunds available to those who attend a closed school.

None of this should fill anyone with a sense of schadenfreude.There are, after all, real students and real teachers whose academic and professional futures seem likely to come to an abrupt and unpleasant end.