The beleaguered Charlotte School of Law finally got some good news earlier this month when the U.S. Department of Education released federal loan money to some students just days before the spring semester ended. That development comes several months after the school hired a trio of lobbyists to make its case in Washington, one of whom helped shepherd Education Secretary Betsy DeVos through the confirmation process in January.
Charlotte had pushed unsuccessfully for the disbursement of the spring semester loans since December, when the Education Department withdrew the school’s federal loan eligibility—the lifeblood of colleges and universities—amid concern over the school’s accreditation status and admissions practices. The law school argued that students who had been approved for federal loans for the full school year were entitled to the entire amount, regardless of the timing of the department’s decision to cut it off from federal loans. An Education Department spokesman said last week that he did not have any information about the school’s federal loan status. Charlotte law spokeswoman Victoria Taylor confirmed that eligible students had received their federal loans for the spring. She declined further comment.
