The U.S. Department of Education asked a federal judge to push back the deadline for deciding tens of thousands of borrower‑defense claims tied to the 2022 Sweet v. McMahon settlement. The agency requested an 18‑month extension to resolve nearly 200,000 applications that were promised either timely decisions or automatic relief by Jan. 28. The plaintiffs’ counsel, the Project on Predatory Student Lending, urged the court to deny the request and said the department must honour the settlement timetable. The case centers on debt relief for students who allege they were defrauded by predominantly for‑profit colleges; any further delay would extend financial uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of former students and complicate budget planning for federal higher‑education oversight.