Education Department Misses April 15 Deadline for Reviewing Group 2 Student Loan Forgiveness Applications

Education Department missed the April 15, 2026, deadline for issuing decisions on applications from post-class applicants in Group 2 under the Sweet v. McMahon case. Group 2 consists of applicants who did not attend schools listed in Exhibit C of the settlement.

As of April 17, 2026, borrowers in this group have not received discharge notices. According to settlement terms, the Education Department must issue discharge notices by June 15, 2026, and fulfill them within 12 months of delivery. Discharges include full forgiveness of student loans, retroactive refunds for prior payments, and rectified credit reporting.

The Project on Predatory Student Lending stated that the department's failure to meet the deadline entitles borrowers to student loan discharge, refunds of past payments, and amended credit reporting.

The Education Department previously missed the March 30, 2026, deadline for Group 1, resulting in discharge notices sent to 170,000 borrowers.

Group 1 consists of borrowers who attended schools listed in Exhibit C of the settlement. There are 250,000 post-class applicants in total. In its Ninth Circuit filing, the Education Department disclosed meeting its January 2026 review deadline for roughly 60,000 of the 250,000 post-class applicants.

The Education Department stated that automatic discharges for the remaining post-class applicants would amount to $11 billion in discharges and $600 million in refunds.

In 2026, the Trump administration sought an 18-month extension for reviewing post-class applications.

Two federal district court judges denied the Trump administration's request for an 18-month extension. The court separated post-class applicants into two groups with distinct deadlines. The Education Department appealed both rulings and sought an emergency stay, which the appeals court denied.