A federal judge denied the Education Department’s request for an 18‑month extension to decide borrower‑defense claims tied to a landmark class‑action settlement, leaving an imminent January deadline intact for one group and a shortened extension for others. The Sweet v. McMahon settlement had promised automatic relief for borrowers if the department failed to act by court‑set dates, and Judge William Alsup refused to permit an across‑the‑board delay for the subset of borrowers who attended 151 institutions flagged for strong indications of misconduct. The ruling pressures the Education Department to finalize thousands of contested borrower‑defense determinations and could accelerate debt‑relief payouts, with implications for institutional reputations and federal recovery actions.