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Sweet v. McMahon Settlement in 2026: Where Your Borrower Defense Claim Stands Now

For hundreds of thousands of former for-profit college students, the Sweet settlement is the reason their loans were finally cancelled. In 2026 the case kept moving: deadlines for the last group of applicants passed, an appeals court refused to give the Department of Education more time, and a judge is now pressing the Department over relief that is still missing. Here is where things stand as of November 2026, which group you are in, and what happens next.

Sweet settlement 2026 update: Education Secretary Linda McMahon beside a former student holding a Department of Education letter, with a federal courthouse, gavel and the U.S. Capitol

The Short Answer

Your place in the Sweet settlement depends on two things: when you applied for Borrower Defense and whether your school is on the settlement's Exhibit C list. Here is the quick version:

If you applied for Borrower Defense	Your group	Where things stand in November 2026
On or before June 22, 2022, for a school on the Exhibit C list	Automatic relief group	Full Settlement Relief was due by January 28, 2024. Anyone still missing relief is part of the enforcement fight now in court.
On or before June 22, 2022, for a school not on Exhibit C	Decision groups 1 to 5	All decisions were due by July 28, 2026. Approved borrowers should have relief; revise and resubmit deadlines have passed.
June 23 to November 16, 2022, for an Exhibit C school	Post-class	If no decision came by January 28, 2026, you are entitled to Full Settlement Relief. Notices went out around March 30, 2026, and relief is due within one year of the notice.
June 23 to November 16, 2022, for any other school	Post-class	If no decision came by April 15, 2026, you are entitled to Full Settlement Relief. Notices were due by June 15, 2026, and relief is due within one year of the notice.
After November 16, 2022	Not covered by Sweet	Your claim is decided under the regular Borrower Defense rules that apply to your loans.

The Biggest 2026 Developments

For how the case began and how the settlement was built, see our Sweet v. Cardona overview. This page tracks what changed in 2026.

January 28, 2026: the deadline passed for deciding post-class applications tied to Exhibit C schools. Undecided applications became entitled to Full Settlement Relief.
February 25, 2026: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Everglades College's challenge to the settlement, ending the school intervenors' attempts to block it.
March 30, 2026: the Department emailed Exhibit C post-class applicants that they are entitled to Full Settlement Relief, due within one year.
April 15, 2026: the deadline passed for deciding all other post-class applications. Notices to those borrowers were due by June 15, 2026.
July 17, 2026: the Ninth Circuit unanimously rejected the Department's appeal for more time, leaving the deadlines in place for more than 170,000 post-class borrowers.
August 18, 2026: class counsel asked the court to enforce the settlement and hold the Department in contempt over at least 1,051 class members still waiting on relief.
November 5, 2026: at a public hearing, the judge ordered the Department to follow up on outstanding relief for the automatic relief group and decision groups 1 to 5. The court reconvenes on December 10, 2026.

These dates come from the Project on Predatory Student Lending case page, which represents the class, and its Sweet settlement FAQ. In its fourteenth quarterly report, the Department said discharges had been fully processed for at least 195,598 class members in the main relief groups through July 13, 2026.

What the Exhibit C List Means

Exhibit C is the list of schools the Department agreed had enough evidence of misconduct that class members who attended them get relief without an individual review. It includes schools such as ITT Technical Institute, Corinthian Colleges (Everest, Heald and WyoTech), Westwood College, the Art Institutes, Marinello Schools of Beauty, Ashford University, and the CEHE schools, including CollegeAmerica and Stevens-Henager College. Three listed schools, Lincoln Tech, Keiser University (Everglades College) and American National University, fought the settlement in court and lost.

If you are not sure whether your school is covered, our list of schools with Borrower Defense evidence is a good place to start, and we check Exhibit C for you during your review.

If You Are a Post-Class Applicant

If you applied between June 23 and November 16, 2022, the decision deadlines have passed. In most cases, one of three things happened:

You were approved. Relief is due within one year of your approval notice.
You got no decision in time. You are entitled to Full Settlement Relief, and a notice should have arrived from noreply@studentaid.gov with a subject line such as "Sweet v. McMahon Settlement: Borrower Defense Post-Class Notice."
You were denied. Post-class applicants can request reconsideration. There is no formal deadline, but there is also no deadline for the Department to answer, so moving quickly matters.

Notices often land in spam, in an old inbox, or at the email address used on the original application. If your Federal Student Aid account still shows your Borrower Defense application as pending, that usually means no decision was issued by the deadline. Our Borrower Defense status guide explains how to read what your account shows.

If You Are Still Missing Relief

The court-supervised fight in late 2026 is about class members who were promised discharges, refunds or credit corrections and still do not have them. Common gaps include refunds that arrived as several plain U.S. Treasury checks or deposits with no mention of Sweet, refunds of past tax refund offsets and wage garnishment, and consolidation loans that mixed covered and uncovered loans. Payments made to private banks on commercially held FFEL loans generally are not refunded, though money taken by tax offset or garnishment is. Our guide to FFEL, Perkins and consolidation explains why loan type matters.

The official contact for missing settlement relief is the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman at sweet@ed.gov, with class counsel at info@ppsl.org copied. The message should include your full name, any other name or email used when you applied, your Borrower Defense application number, and exactly what relief is missing.

If You Applied After November 16, 2022, or Have Not Applied

The settlement does not cover you, but Borrower Defense itself is still open. Your claim is judged under the rule tied to your loan dates, and a weak or generic application is likely to be denied. Read whether Borrower Defense is still available in 2026 and the 3-year rule before anything is filed. If your school shut down, a closed school discharge may fit better.

A Word About Scams

If you are a Sweet class member or a post-class applicant already owed relief, you do not need to pay anyone to receive it, and you do not need to consolidate your loans to get it. Nobody can move you up in line. If we find during your review that the settlement or a group discharge already covers you, we tell you so and you owe us nothing for that.

What Legal Touch Does for You

You tell us about your school once. We do the work:

We review your federal loan records and find every Borrower Defense application on file, its date, and which school it covered.
We work out which Sweet group you are in, or confirm that the settlement does not cover you.
We check the Exhibit C list and the group discharge lists for your school.
If you are already covered, we tell you what relief you should be seeing and what to send the Ombudsman if it is missing.
If you are not covered, we build a new Borrower Defense application with a sworn statement and evidence, file it, and follow up until there is a decision.

Start with our full Borrower Defense guide, or see all of our loan help services.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Sweet v. McMahon settlement?

Sweet v. McMahon, earlier called Sweet v. DeVos and Sweet v. Cardona, is a class action over Borrower Defense applications the Department of Education left undecided for years. The court approved the settlement on November 16, 2022. The Project on Predatory Student Lending, which represents the class, now counts it as at least $23 billion in relief.

Am I a Sweet class member?

You are a class member if you had a Borrower Defense application pending on June 22, 2022, or if you received a form denial between December 2019 and October 2020, since those denials were rescinded. If you applied between June 23 and November 16, 2022, you are a post-class applicant. If you applied after November 16, 2022, the settlement does not cover you.

What is Full Settlement Relief?

It means three things for the loans covered by your application: the remaining balance is discharged, payments you made to the Department of Education on those loans are refunded, and the credit tradeline for those loans is deleted from your credit report.

What did the Ninth Circuit decide in July 2026?

On July 17, 2026, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit unanimously rejected the Department of Education's appeal seeking more time to decide post-class applications. That left the district court's deadlines in place, and according to PPSL it means more than 170,000 post-class borrowers whose applications were not decided on time are owed relief.

What happened at the November 5, 2026 hearing?

PPSL had asked the court to enforce the settlement and to hold the Department in contempt because at least 1,051 class members were still waiting on discharges or refunds past their deadlines. At the November 5, 2026 hearing, the judge ordered the Department to follow up on outstanding relief for the automatic relief group and decision groups 1 to 5, and set the next hearing for December 10, 2026, when the Department must report on borrower relief.

Why did my balance change instead of going to zero?

PPSL says balance changes are a normal part of the discharge process as the Department and the servicers unwind the loans, and are usually a sign the discharge is moving. Relief is still due within one year of the date on your notice.

Do I have to make payments while I wait?

Class members are held in forbearance or stopped collection status, with interest reimbursed, until relief arrives. Post-class applicants in Borrower Defense forbearance may see interest build, which is discharged if relief is granted. Loans that were not part of your application are not covered and return to repayment.

Is a Sweet discharge taxable in 2026?

PPSL says post-class discharges after January 1, 2026 should still be federally tax-free under IRS Revenue Procedure 2015-57, which covers Borrower Defense discharges. State rules vary, so it is worth confirming with a tax professional.

I applied after November 16, 2022. Can I still get help?

Yes. The settlement does not cover your application, but Borrower Defense is still available. Your claim is reviewed under the rules tied to your loan dates, and denials are likely when the evidence is thin. Legal Touch builds the application and evidence packet for you. Legal Touch is not a law firm and cannot guarantee any result.

Get a Free Borrower Defense Review

Find out whether the Sweet settlement already covers you or whether a new claim makes sense. Check My Eligibility or call 800-261-2946.

Questions first? Contact our team.

Sources: Project on Predatory Student Lending, Sweet v. McMahon case page and Sweet settlement FAQ (accessed November 11, 2026); U.S. Department of Education, Fourteenth Quarterly Report under the Sweet settlement; Federal Student Aid, Borrower Defense.

Legal Touch is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Results are not guaranteed. Every decision is made by the U.S. Department of Education, and Legal Touch is not affiliated with any government agency or with class counsel in Sweet v. McMahon. You can apply for Borrower Defense yourself, for free, at StudentAid.gov. We will never ask for your StudentAid.gov username or password.