Steptoe & Johnson filed a lawsuit on Sept. 23 in Ohio Northern District Court on behalf of Ashland University. The suit accuses the U.S. Department of Education of wrongfully imposing a $6 million penalty against the university for its alleged incorrect calculation of Pell Grant funds for Second Chance Pell (SCP) students, a program that provides need-based Pell Grants to incarcerated individuals to allow them to participate in eligible postsecondary programs. The suit seeks to enjoin the defendant from manipulating the university's curriculum by redefining the programs offered by the plaintiff in an effort to satisfy the defendant's interpretation of an 'eligible program.' According to the suit, the university contends that its SCP program is an 'educational program' that was legally authorized by the Ohio Department of Higher Education and is released from grant scrutiny. The case is 1:23-cv-01850, Ashland University v. Cardona.
Education
September 25, 2023, 4:50 AM