Summary: The for-profit law school missed two deadlines allowing it to stay open after losing federal student aid eligibility in December.
Charlotte School of Law, owned by for-profit company InfiLaw, had two deadlines enabling the school to remain open. They missed both yesterday. The deadlines were set by state regulators for the law school to stay open. Charlotte Law is now asking for an extension.
The law school lost access to federal aid in December when the U.S. Department of Education found they had failed to keep standards set by the government and American Bar Association. The ABA thus put Charlotte Law on probation since they were failing to accept applicants with a good chance of succeeding and passing the bar exam. The Department of Education also cited substantial misrepresentations made by the school to students regarding their accreditation and bar-passage rates.
With all the marks against Charlotte Law and their parent company, they were lucky to be allowed to keep their doors open this year. They are not allowed to enroll new students during this time until they either get federal aid restored or are stuff down. The law school found some money to help their current students in the meantime.
Charlotte Law is in the midst of negotiations with the Department of Education to find terms for their reinstatement. This includes determining how much money should be set aside to protect taxpayers and the students if the school closes. A department spokeswoman said, “Negotiations are ongoing with Charlotte School of Law regarding reinstatement of eligibility for Title IV funds.”
Until Charlotte Law can get back on track they have devised a teach-out plan so current students can finish their degrees at one of the other InfiLaw institutions. This plan was one of the deadlines. The ABA was supposed to have signed off on the teach-out plan but has yet to happen. The other deadline was the requirement for federal aid eligibility to be restored. If with the missed deadlines, Charlotte’s doors are still open.
The University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors has the say over Charlotte Law remaining open. They provide licensing for non-public degree issuing institutions. In June the board allowed Charlotte Law to operate on a restricted license if they met the August 10 deadline. They had stated, “CSL may continue to conduct postsecondary degree activity in North Carolina at this time and on a limited basis while it develops and seeks ABA approval of an appropriate teach-out plan that fully protects the interests of CSL students who may wish to complete their CSL degree programs, and/or approval for continued operation as an accredited law school. The U.S. Department of Education must determine no later than August 10, 2017, that any CSL student who remains enrolled may participate in Title IV federal loan programs.”
The ABA was meeting with Charlotte Law today to possibly sign off on the teach-out plan.
Deputy director Clare McCann for federal policy at New America is a former department official. She said, “Charlotte School of Law has been providing an egregiously bad legal education, where students have worse than a 50-50 shot at passing the bar. And at the same time, it has been evading any potential costs of closed school discharge liabilities by dragging out its inevitable closure, meaning students can’t get their loans cancelled and start fresh.”
North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein is also investigating Charlotte law school and reviewing their state license.
Do you think Charlotte School of Law should be shut down? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about Charlotte School of Law, read these articles:
- Charlotte Law Loses Federal Financial Aid
- Charlotte School of Law Files for Dismissal of Three Class Action Lawsuits
- Charlotte School of Law Official Caught on Tape Admitting Bar Passage Scheme
Photo: wsoctv.com
