US Magistrate judge will end DeVos' delay of online universities rule

A U.S. magistrate judge has indicated she will vacate a delay set by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her department on a rule requiring online universities notify students if their programs fail to meet accreditation standards.

During a hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler of the Northern District said her "intention was to vacate" the delay and find for the plaintiffs, the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association, in the class action. National Education Association v. DeVos, 18-CV05173 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 13, 2018).

"My inclination is summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs is the right approach," she said in an audio file filed Friday.

Beeler dismissed arguments by government counsel that the department had the right to waive the "negotiation rulemaking" portion of the Higher Education Act of 1965 when it rescinded the notification rule in July 2018.

By providing the unions only 17 days to respond to the rescinding of the rule and its purported two-year delay until 2020, the department failed to meet the act's standard, Beeler said.

"It does not seem to me that [amount of time] renders the process," she said. "The process here definitely affected the outcome."

The National Student Legal Defense Network filed the suit on behalf of the two unions last August after the department rescinded the rule. In the complaint, the education unions alleged DeVos and the department illegally delayed setting regulations that require online universities to notify current and prospective students about whether their programs meet state licensing standards or have faced adverse actions, either from the state or accreditor.

The rules are meant to protect students from wasting time and money on courses that wouldn't further their careers if the schools lose accreditation, according to the complaint.

In doing so, the suit alleges the department "arbitrarily [and] capriciously" violated the education act as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.

In addition to vacating the delay, the unions seek an order for the department to enforce the rule, reimbursement of court costs and additional relief. An order from the court is pending, court records show.

"The common-sense disclosures help prospective and enrolled students evaluate the legitimacy of online programs and the institution that offers them," teachers union president Eric Heins said in an August 2018 statement.

An aspiring educator and named co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, Stephanie Portilla enrolled in Western Governors University, an online-only school, specifically because "her program would meet the California state standards for teacher certification," according to the lawsuit.

Without the final rule in place, Portilla claims she would not know "if her program ceased to meet standards," the suit alleges.

Calls to Stuart J. Robinson, attorney for the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice representing the department, were not returned late Friday.