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# U.S. Department of Education Takes Action Against Five Schools for Disbursing Federal Student Aid to Students Enrolled in Unaccredited Programs

# U.S. Department of Education Takes Action Against Five Schools for Disbursing Federal Student Aid to Students Enrolled in Unaccredited Programs

August 24, 2023

**Contact:  **press@ed.gov

                                    -        
Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department)  announced settlement agreements with five law schools after a Federal Student  Aid (FSA) investigation revealed that the schools improperly disbursed Title IV funds to students enrolled in unaccredited Master of Laws (LL.M.)  programs.

The five schools that settled these claims are Albany Law  School, Atlanta’s John Marshall School of Law, Brooklyn Law School, New England  Law–Boston, and New York Law School. Nearly $2.9 million in ineligible  disbursements were made to 92 students across the five schools between July  2017 and June 2022. 

“Today’s  actions demonstrate our commitment to protect the integrity of the federal  student aid programs,” said FSA Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray.  “Through our ongoing work, we will continue to protect both students and  taxpayers.”

Generally, institutions must be accredited or, in  the case of public or non-profit institutions, pre-accredited by a nationally  recognized accrediting agency to participate in Title IV programs. Each school  is responsible for ensuring Title IV funds are only disbursed to students  enrolled in eligible programs within the scope of the Department’s recognition  of the school’s institutional accrediting agency. Accreditation is a critical  part of the federal student aid program’s regulatory framework, and accrediting  agencies serve as reliable authorities regarding the quality of education or  training offered by the institutions or programs they accredit.

Unlike most  law schools in the United States, the schools included in the settlements are  not part of a broader university system that offers other non-legal  education programs and has institutional accreditation. Such schools are  sometimes referred to as “freestanding law schools.” The American Bar  Association (ABA) typically functions as a programmatic accreditor for schools  with Juris Doctor (J.D.) programs that otherwise have institutional  accreditation; however, the ABA does not accredit LL.M. programs. For  freestanding law schools, the ABA is recognized as an institutional accreditor  by the Department and, therefore, approved as a gatekeeper for Title IVfunds  for J.D. programs only. As a result, freestanding law schools institutionally  accredited by the ABA that offer non-J.D. programs, such as LL.M. programs,  must also secure institutional accreditation that has within its recognized  scope all the programs the school offers for Title IV aid. FSA’s investigation  determined that the five law schools failed to secure the necessary  accreditation to disburse aid for their LL.M. programs.

Under the settlements, the schools will:
- Reimburse the expected loss to the Department from the improperly       disbursed funds;
- Stop disbursing federal student aid funds to students in       ineligible programs; and
- Agree not to seek reimbursement or to recoup the amounts       paid as a settlement from any students or former students.

Under the settlements, the three schools that  disbursed Title IV funds within the last five years must pay a fine.

The  agreements do not constitute an admission of wrongdoing or liability by  the schools.  These are  not the first instances of an ABA-accredited law school coming under Department  scrutiny for disbursing Title IVfunds to students enrolled in an  unaccredited LL.M. program. In October 2021, another freestanding law school notified  the Department of its own violation. The Department opened a program review and  assessed liabilities against the school for improper disbursements. In that  case, however, the Department determined not to impose a fine on that school in  recognition of the school’s responsible conduct in self-identifying and  self-reporting this violation.

Schools are  responsible for ensuring they have institutional accreditation recognized by  the Department, including any program for which they intend to disburse Title  IV funds. The Department will continue to hold schools accountable if they fail  to fulfill this responsibility.
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