Florida Coastal School of Law loses Title IV student loan eligibility

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It could be a temporary setback, or it could be a “death knell” as some has described it.

Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville is scrambling to get federal financial aid reinstated for students.

A spokesperson for the college on Monday confirmed the school learned Thursday that its Title IV student loan eligibility had been terminated, saying it’s the result of a new Department of Education policy.

Peter Goplerud, a dean at the school, explained that the new process requires a signature from an investor in the for-profit school. That entity couldn’t sign and has now divested its interests.

“We are working around the clock to get this matter straightened out and committed to and optimistic about the future of the law school,” Goplerud said.

Attorney John Delaney, the former Jacksonville mayor and former president of the University of North Florida, is about to become the temporary president at Flagler College. He laid out the high stakes involved for Florida Coastal.

Ad

“I think it’d be very tough without that to be able to stay open,” Delaney said. “There’s only a few rich students that can’t get into another law school someplace in the country that would probably pay that tab, and again it’s under appeal and those often get reversed.”

Both Delaney and Goplerud pointed out that this is not an accreditation issue but a procedural problem. Florida Coastal hopes to have it solved quickly.