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Teach-out plan for Florida Coastal approved; classes will end after summer term
The Florida Coastal School of Law. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Following the U.S. Department of Education recently pulling federal financial aid at the Florida Coastal School of Law, a teach-out plan has been approved, with current students finishing courses at other ABA-approved law schools.
The law school is the last of three for-profit schools owned by InfiLaw, an entity of the private equity firm Sterling Capital Partners. In April, the DOE terminated Florida Coastal’s access to federal financial aid.
The department denied a reinstatement request in May, and in a news release, it stated that a private equity firm with 98.6% ownership in the school had relinquished its ownership.
The American Bar Association notified Florida Coastal School of Law on May 18 that the school’s teach-out plan was rejected and must be resubmitted.
The ABA directed the law school to submit the plan to facilitate the transfer of its students to other accredited law schools to finish their education after Florida Coastal’s application for reinstatement in the federal Title IV student loan program was denied in April.
“We will be submitting an appeal of the Department of Education’s decision this week. We will be resubmitting the teach-out plan by May 28 with details on how the plan will work for each of our students,” said Peter Goplerud, president and dean of Florida Coastal, in an email May 19.
Florida Coastal School of Law disputes the findings released May 13 by the office of Federal Student Aid in the U.S. Department of Education denying the school’s reinstatement into the loan program.
The school’s dean says the decision not to reinstate Florida Coastal in the federal student loan program is a mistake and it will appeal the denial, according to a statement released May 14 by the law school.
“I was perplexed by the ED’s decisions and disagree on many points they made in the letter and press release,” said Peter Goplerud, Florida Coastal president and dean, in the release.
The U.S. Education Department said it rejected the school’s request to reinstate a contract for participation in federal student aid programs that expired in March.