Charlotte School of Law students got some promising news today, a week before graduation: their federal loan money may actually come through for this semester.
In an email, the school's president Chidi Ogene told students that he had spoken to people at the Department of Education this week. He said the department is ready to issue the loans. He expects most students' federal loan money will come through by next Thursday. That's two days before graduation. The school will extend zero-interest loans to those students who don't qualify for the money because of the timing of their loans.
Students are cautiously optimistic. They've received other encouraging emails from the school's administration that didn't pan out.
Charlotte School of Law is still fighting to stay open. In the email, Ogene wrote that people at the Department of Education told him they're still reviewing the school's application to reinstate federal loan money, so that students can continue to receive it.
The Department yanked the funds in December after the American Bar Association put the school on probation partly for admitting too many unqualified students and its low bar passage rate. That rate declined even more for this February's administration of the bar. According to the legal blog, Above the Law, only a quarter of the school's graduates passed it on their first try.
President Chidi Ogene's email:
