© 2024 WFAE
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Some Former Charlotte Law Students Denied Loan Forgiveness, Says NC AG

Charlotte School of Law entrance
Gwendolyn Glenn
/
WFAE

The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office says it believes "an administrative error" caused the U.S. Department of Education to deny loan discharges for some former Charlotte School of Law students. 

These are students who were on leaves of absence around the time the school abruptly closed in August. Those absences were reported as withdrawals in national databases that track enrollment and financial aid. 

School administrators approved leaves of absence for about 40 students in January who did not end up transferring.  The NC Attorney General’s office is asking the federal government to forgive their loans.

Charlotte School of Law’s tuition ran about $44,000 a year. Under the federal closed school discharge rule, students who are recently enrolled when a school closes are entitled to complete loan forgiveness, as long as they don’t transfer their credits to other schools.

Last December, Charlotte School of Law’s accreditor placed it on probation partly for admitting too many unqualified students. Shortly afterward, the Department of Education yanked the school’s federal loan money.  

Lisa Worf traded the Midwest for Charlotte in 2006 to take a job at WFAE. She worked with public TV in Detroit and taught English in Austria before making her way to radio. Lisa graduated from University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in English.