Florida Coastal School of Law could close in August | Jax Daily Record | Jacksonville Daily Record jaxdailyrecord.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jaxdailyrecord.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“I was devastated, but not shocked, really, second-year FCSL student Morgan Osborn said. Author: Haley Harrison Updated: 7:03 AM EDT May 15, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. After the federal government has cut off student aid at Jacksonville’s Florida Coastal School of Law (FCSL), the school responded disputing the claim that it hadn’t met standards for financial responsibility.
The U.S. Education Department said Thursday it had rejected the school’s request to reinstate a contract for participation in federal student aid programs that expired March 31.
“Florida Coastal School of Law operated recklessly and irresponsibly, putting its students at financial risk rather than providing the opportunities they were seeking,” Richard Cordray, the department’s new chief of federal student aid, said in a news release about the decision.
The office of Federal Student Aid in the U.S. Department of Education notified Florida Coastal School of Law on May 13 that the school’s application for reinstatement to participate in federal student aid programs is denied.
Without access to federal student aid programs, the law school will close.
“We are currently reviewing the letter with counsel and looking at our options. We have been given 10 days to appeal the DOE decision. We submitted a teach-out plan to the ABA last week and have been in preliminary contact with them concerning this denial and we will be speaking with them further,” said Florida Coastal President and Dean Peter Goplerud in an email.
Florida Coastal School of Law says a “procedural matter” resulted in its termination from the federal student loan program, triggering the process for closing the school.
By direction of the American Bar Association, Florida Coastal submitted a teach-out plan May 7 that would allow the school to maintain its accreditation while its students are allowed to transfer to other accredited law schools to complete their education.
Florida Coastal President and Dean Peter Goplerud said May 11 that the U.S. Department of Education terminated the law school’s participation in the federal student loan program in April when Sterling Capital Partners, the private equity firm that established the school, determined it could not sign the application because of legalities involving its status as a limited partnership.