Loan forgiveness may be close for some students.

200,000 student borrowers who say they were ripped off may get their loans erased. [View this email online]( [NPR Education]( July 24, 2022 This week, we look at how a pending legal settlement is good news for defrauded borrowers. The settlement also raises questions about the U.S. Education Department's ability to police college misconduct. Plus, a look at how schools in Dallas are changing their backpack policy after Uvalde. --------------------------------------------------------------- LA Johnson/NPR Happy Sunday, Cory here, writing from my basement office, which is unusually pin-drop quiet because my two kids are both at sleepaway camp. For the first time. This week’s story is a doozy – about a student loan lawsuit I’ve been following for years. The class action suit, Sweet v. Cardona, centers on a federal rule, known as borrower defense, that allows borrowers to ask the U.S. Department of Education to erase their student debts if a school has lied to them – about their job prospects, credits' transferability or future salary. Tens of thousands of borrowers who say they were ripped off, largely by for-profit colleges, have been in limbo, waiting years to have their claims reviewed. During the Trump administration, borrower advocates sued the department, arguing it deliberately and illegally stopped processing claims, then wrongfully denied others without considering the merits of their cases. On Aug. 4, a federal judge will decide whether to preliminarily approve a settlement between the two sides that would erase the debts of 200,000 borrowers who say they were defrauded. The story’s a doozy because the settlement accuses 153, largely for-profit colleges of “substantial misconduct.” While some on the list are clearly rotten apples with a miles-long stink trail of fraud, others are still enrolling students and have never been investigated. The latter are now angry and pleading with the federal judge to reconsider the settlement. It’s a nerdy policy story, yes, but it also poses some pretty fundamental questions about due process and whether the department is doing enough not only to help defrauded borrowers but to protect future borrowers from the same cycles of fraud. [Read more here](. — Cory Turner, Correspondent & Senior Editor Now, let’s get into some news… Students in a Dallas school district must wear clear backpacks after the shooting in Uvalde. The Dallas Independent School District, the second largest in Texas, will be requiring students to wear clear or mesh backpacks to school in the aftermath of the Uvalde school shooting. Students from grades 6 to 12 will have to wear see-through backpacks beginning in the 2022-2023 school year to "ensure that prohibited items are not included among the students' belongings," the district said Monday. Though, students' bags may still be searched at the discretion of staff. [Read more here](. — Ayana Archie, NPR Reporter --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Music for a college classroom: A Texas school will soon offer a Harry Styles class. A new college history course at Texas State University will focus on Harry Styles and the culture of celebrity. Starting next spring, roughly 20 lucky undergraduate students will get to learn how — as the pop star so famously put it — "it's not the same as it was." Louie Dean Valencia, a professor of digital history and a longtime Styles fan, announced on Twitter over the weekend that the university's honors college had approved his course, "Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity: Identity, the Internet and European Pop Culture," for the spring of 2023. [Read more here](. — Rachel Treisman, Associate Editor And before you go, are you trying to talk to your kids about abortion? For many parents, the wall-to-wall news coverage of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade means facing some questions from their kids. And that's brought up some questions of their own. The NPR audience has been sending in their questions, asking for advice. We called in Reena B. Patel, a parenting expert and licensed educational psychologist in San Diego, California, and Dr. Elise Berlan, a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist in Columbus, Ohio, to help get these conversations started. [Here are your questions, and what the experts advise](. See you next week. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [npred@npr.org](mailto:npred@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! [They can sign up here.]( Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]