The Higher Education Inquirer has submitted a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Department of Education seeking updated data on Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) claims.
Specifically, the request asks for the latest report generated from the Department’s Consumer Engagement Management System (CEMS)—the internal platform that tracks borrower complaints and federal discharge decisions related to school misconduct and misrepresentation. The request mirrors a prior release, FOIA Request No. 22-00011-F, which produced a 94-page report itemizing all institutions with BDR claims, the number of applications per school, and their adjudication status (approved, denied, pending, or closed).
This new request covers the period from July 15, 2024 through July 13, 2025, a timeframe that includes a volatile political year, further fallout from collapsed for-profit schools, ongoing litigation, and changes in regulatory enforcement under a fractured Department of Education.
The goal of this FOIA request is to provide the public with clear, updated, and comprehensive insight into which schools—across all sectors—continue to generate complaints from borrowers who claim they were misled or defrauded. These data are vital for researchers, journalists, legal advocates, and students trying to navigate an often opaque and treacherous higher education marketplace.
The original CEMS disclosure from 2022 helped illuminate systemic abuse, particularly among large for-profit college chains and online universities. It also revealed how some nonprofit and public institutions had quietly accumulated significant numbers of BDR claims, often with little media scrutiny or regulatory response.
The current FOIA request follows growing public concern over borrower protections, the fairness and efficiency of the BDR process, and the lack of institutional accountability. While the Department of Education has discharged billions in student debt under expanded BDR rules in recent years, critics argue that transparency has been lacking—especially as political and legal pressure intensifies.
In submitting this request, the Higher Education Inquirer reaffirms its commitment to independent, investigative journalism focused on the intersection of education, debt, and power. Once the data are released, HEI will analyze and publish key findings to expose patterns of harm, regulatory failure, and corporate influence—wherever they may lie.
Source:
FOIA Request No. 25-04397-F, U.S. Department of Education, July 13, 2025
Prior FOIA Disclosure: FOIA 22-00011-F, released 2022 (94-page CEMS report)
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