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FOIA

Other

FOIA requests on topics that do not fit in the categories above.


FOIA Requests

 

ITT Debt Forgiveness - August 19, 2022

Seeking: The number of borrowers who attended ITT Technical Institute from January 1, 2015 until its closure who, as of August 16, 2022, had no outstanding federal student loan balance related to their enrollment at ITT.

Documents

On June 16, 2023, the Department provided a response to this request.

 

NVRA Voter Registration FOIA - April 4, 2022

Seeking: 

1. All communications with institutions of higher education from January 2017 to the date of this request regarding the Voter Registration Requirements;

2. All final program review determinations or program review reports documenting findings of non-compliance with respect to the Voter Registration Requirements; and

3. All final audit reports documenting findings of non-compliance with respect to the Voter Registration Requirements.

 

Documents

The Department initially failed to produce any responsive documents, as required by law. After Student Defense sued the Department in federal court, the Department provided a final response. The responsive documents are available here:

 

Public Service Loan Forgiveness Data - October 8, 2021

Seeking: From October 2021 through October 2022, Student Defense submitted a series of FOIA requests for data detailing the number of PSLF applicants and PSLF approvals/denials for the following time periods: 

Documents
 
After Student Defense submitted these FOIA requests, the Department provided final response letters and made the responsive documents publicly available here.
 
 

Data Regarding Administrative Wage Garnishment Complaints & P.O. Box - July 15, 2021

Seeking: (1) All complaints received by the Department, from March 1, 2020 to the present, regarding the administrative wage garnishment program, (2) all documents related to the department's decision in 2020 to "shut down the post office box where AWG payments were received," (3) all documents, from November 2020 to the present, referring or discussing or relating in any way to the post office box(es) where AWG payments were received or were to be received, and (4) all documents referring, discussing, or relating to any continued use of administrative wage garnishments by the Department from January 2021 to the present, including communications with any third parties (including Maximus and ECMC) about wage garnishments. 

Documents

The Department initially failed to produce any responsive documents, as required by law. After Student Defense sued the Department in federal court, the Department provided a final response. The responsive documents are available here.

 

List of Title IV Recipient Institutions Authorized to Operate Educational Programs in Correctional Facilities - July 8, 2021

Seeking: A list of all of the Title IV recipient institutions that are authorized to operate educational programs in adult and juvenile correctional facilities.

Documents

On September 29, 2021, the Department provided a response to this request. The responsive documents are available here.

 

List of Institutions Offering Educational Programs in Federal Bureau of Prison Facilities - July 8, 2021

Seeking: A list of all colleges, universities and postsecondary institutions that offer educational programs to inmates in Federal Bureau of Prison (“BOP”) correctional facilities, including but not limited to, entities that provide GED preparation, English-as-a-Second Language, Adult Continuing Education, and Correspondence Education.

Documents

On September 30, 2021, the Department of Justice provided a set of responsive documents. Those documents are available here. 

 

Documents Regarding Wage Garnishment During Covid-19 Pandemic - July 8, 2021

Seeking: The total number of borrowes who have received refunds of wages garnished since March 13, 2020 and the total dolar value of those refunds, and, of the borrowers who have not received refunds of wages garnished since March 13, 2020, the total number who do not have valid addresses on file with the Department.

Documents

On August 17, 2021, the Department provided a response to this request. 

 

Dear Colleague Letter CB-98-13 - June 22, 2021

Seeking: Dear Colleague Letter CB-98-13, which was published on September 1, 1998, along with all attachments to the letter.

Documents

On July 16, 2021, the Department provided a response to this request. The responsive documents are available here.

 

Documents Regarding the Performance of the Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid - October 20, 2020

Seeking: Student Defense and American Oversight submitted three FOIA requests (1, 2, 3) seeking documents related to statutorily-required performance agreements for the Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid, along with records of bonuses and evaluations. 

Documents

The Department initially failed to produce any documents, as required by law. After Student Defense and American Oversight sued the Department in federal court, the Department has made a series of productions. The documents are available here:

More information about the requests is available here:

 

Documents Regarding MyCAA Workforce Development Program - August 1, 2019

Seeking: Student Defense submitted a FOIA request asking for: 

  1. Documents sufficient to show the total number of individuals that haved used the MyCAA grant since its inception.

  2. Documents sufficient to show the total number of individuals that used the MyCAA grant in each of the following years: 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

  3. Documents sufficient to identify the schools (top 10) that have enrolled the largest number of MyCAA grant students since the grants inception, including, for each school, the total number of students that have used financial assistance through MyCAA program.

  4. Documents sufficient to identify the schools (top 10) that have enrolled the largest number of MyCAA grant students in each of the following years including, for each school, the total number of students that used financial assistance through the MyCAA program in each year: 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

  5. Documents sufficient to show the total number of complaints filed with the Department’s Postsecondary Education Complaint System (PECS) in each of the following years: 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

  6. Documents sufficient to show the schools that received the most complaints (top ten) with the Department’s Postsecondary Education Complaint System (PECS) in each of the following years, including the number of complaints received for each school in each year: 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

 
Documents
 
On September 16, 2019, the Department provided a response to this request. The responsive document is available here. 

 

Documents Regarding the 2018-19 Accreditation and Innovation Negotiated Rulemaking - May 14, 2019

Seeking: All data and information requests, and responses to such requests, submitted by members of the negotiated rulemaking committee for the
2018-19 Accreditation and Innovation Negotiated Rulemaking. 

Documents

The Department initially failed to produce any documents, as required by law. After Student Defense sued the Department in federal court, the Department produced a final response on May 4, 2020. The responsive documents are available here.

 

Documents Regarding Preemption of State Regulations and the Student Loan Servicing Alliance - March 27, 2018

Seeking: All communications or correspondence between the ED and representatives, including inhouse or external legal counsel, of SLSA since January 19, 2016 that mention “preemption,” “preempt,” and/or discuss state laws and issues that may be preempted by federal law; all communications or correspondence between ED and representatives of SLSA (including but not limited to Winfield “Winkie” Crigler) since January 19, 2016 that either discuss the Notice, mention “preemption,” and/or discuss state laws and issues that may be preempted by federal law; and all documents and communications sent by SLSA to ED since January 19, 2016 that discuss preemption and/or legal claims made against servicers under state laws.

On June 21, 2019, Student Defense and American Oversight sued the Department in federal court over the Department's failure to produce any documents, as required by law. The Department then provided a series of productions, which are available here:

 

Documents Regarding Communications Between the Department and the Biden-Harris Transition Team - January 25, 2021

Seeking: Student Defense submitted a FOIA request asking for:

  1. From November 4, 2020, to January 20, 2021, any documents constituting or reflecting communications between the Department and the members of the Biden- Harris transition team (“the transition team”).

  2. All emails to and from the transition email domain—jbrpt.org—from November 4, 2020, to January 20, 2021.

Documents 

The Department provided a series of production which are available here:

On July 22, 2021, Student Defense sued the Department in federal court over the Department's failure to provide a complete response to our request, as required by law. The Department provided a series of additional productions which are available here: 

We will continue to update this site with additional information.