U.S. Department of Education releases documents in response to lawsuit filed by NSLDN

In direct response to a lawsuit filed by NSLDN on behalf of The Century Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education released approximately 20,000 pages of documents regarding two higher education accrediting agencies with a history of regulatory noncompliance: the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) and the American Bar Association (ABA).

The Department’s release of materials came immediately after U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Paul A. Crotty issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos—thought to be the first ruling of its kind against Sec. DeVos’ agency—blocking the agency from enforcing its deadline for public comment on information submitted by ACICS and the ABA.

The Court’s opinion and order granting Century’s request for a temporary restraining order is available here.

The ACICS and ABA documents released by the Department are available here.

The Complaint is available here.

Coverage of the case is available here.