A federal appeals court rejected the U.S. Department of Education’s bid to delay decisions in borrower-defense-to-repayment cases, leaving the agency on the hook for relief under a 2022 settlement. The case involves tens of thousands of students seeking debt relief after alleged misconduct by colleges. Under the settlement’s framework, borrowers were grouped for automatic relief or timely decisions. The Trump administration had sought an 18-month delay affecting more than 250,000 applications, while the court found the agency failed to show changed circumstances warranting modification. The ruling renews urgency for institutions and students managing federal student-aid liabilities linked to past school misconduct and underscores how litigation can accelerate or stall relief processing at scale.