Law Schools

Law School Operated 'Recklessly' According To Department Of Education

The school disputes the findings.

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The hits just keep on coming for Florida Coastal School of Law.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Education terminated the school’s access to federal student financial aid (for the second time, the first time being in 2019) for what the school characterizes as a breach of policy that requires a signature from a school investor. (Florida Coastal says that was held up because of its efforts to convert to a nonprofit institution.) Additionally, the law school was directed to file a teach-out plan with the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. ABA Rule 29 requires this step if the Department of Education initiates an emergency action against a law school. However, that plan was rejected after review by the executive committee of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

On Thursday, the Department of Education weighed in on Florida Coastal’s federal load reinstatement application. It… did not go well for the troubled law school. They denied the reapplication, citing President Joe Biden’s campaign promises to end for-profit institutions, and using some pretty harsh language about the law school:

“Florida Coastal School of Law operated recklessly and irresponsibly, putting its students at financial risk rather than providing the opportunities they were seeking,” said [Richard Cordray, the DE’s chief of federal student aid]. “Our commitment is to stand up for all students and ensure their institutions are held to the standards our students and communities expect and deserve.”

Florida Coastal has promised to appeal the decision, saying they’re “putting together the factual evidence of the successes of our graduates and will be going point by point to refute the ED’s claims.”

“[T]hey called us reckless and irresponsible with the students’ futures which could not be further from the truth,” said Peter Goplerud, who is also dean of the Jacksonville-based for-profit law school. “Our students are the sole focus of everything we are doing and always have been.”

The law school has 10 days from the decision to file their appeal.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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