OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiffs Tina Carr and Yvette Colon (together, “Plaintiffs”) took out significant student loans in order to attend the Sanford-Brown Institute (“SBI”), a for-profit educational institution that, it is alleged, misrepresented the job opportunities that SBI students could achieve. After completing their respective courses of study, each Plaintiff found her SBI education to be effectively worthless. In consequence, each Plaintiff sought to invoke the “borrower defense,” pursuant to which students who rely on the misrepresentations of an educational institution with respect to its accreditation or graduate employment rates may be relieved of their debts or have a defense to any collection attempts. The United States Department of Education (“DOE” or the “Department”) has recognized the borrower defense in certain circumstances; Plaintiffs applied to DOE for such relief in late 2015, but DOE has not yet resolved their applications.Plaintiffs now ask this Court for the resolution they have not yet obtained from DOE: They seek a declaratory judgment that they are entitled to a borrower defense for their outstanding student loans. DOE objects on the grounds that (i) the Secretary of Education is immune from suit; (ii) the specific loans that Plaintiffs received do not trigger a private right of action against the Secretary; and (iii) administrative remedies have not been exhausted. The Court agrees that the Secretary is immune from suit, thereby depriving the Court of subject matter jurisdiction. Even if the Court had subject matter jurisdiction, Plaintiffs have not adequately stated a claim for relief against the Secretary. The Court declines to reach the issue of exhaustion, as it does not consider it appropriate to undertake this unbounded inquiry in an advisory capacity. While the Court sympathizes with Plaintiffs’ frustration over the lengthy delays in the processing of their applications, it cannot find that this bureaucratic lag gives rise to a viable claim for relief at this stage.BACKGROUND1A. Factual BackgroundMs. Carr lives in Lindenhurst, New York, and took out federal student loans to attend a Medical Assisting program at SBI. (Am. Compl. 10). Ms. Colon lives in New York City, and took out federal and private student loans to attend to a Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Technology (Sonography) program at SBI. (Id. at 11). Defendant Elizabeth DeVos (the “Secretary”) is the United States Secretary of Education. (Id. at 12). In her capacity as Secretary, she oversees DOE and its federal student loan programs. (Id. at 13).1. The Loans and the SBI InvestigationAccording to Ms. Colon, she decided in 2006 to further her career in medicine by becoming a cardiac sonographer, and listened to SBI representatives who promised her that attendance at the school would produce this result. (Am. Compl.
120-25). Relying on these promises, Ms. Colon enrolled at SBI; to finance her attendance, she took out four Federal Family Education Loan (“FFEL”) program loans, totaling $14,838, and two private loans, totaling $21,095. (Id. at
