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Litigation
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Litigation Litigation
The Company is involved in litigation and other legal proceedings arising out of the ordinary course of its business. Certain of these matters are discussed below. From time to time, certain matters may arise that are other than ordinary and routine. The outcome of such matters is uncertain, and the Company may incur costs in the future to defend, settle, or otherwise resolve them. The Company accrues for estimated costs related to existing lawsuits, claims and proceedings when it is probable that it will incur these costs in the future and the costs are reasonably estimable. The Company currently believes that the ultimate outcome of such matters will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. However, depending on the amount and timing, an unfavorable resolution of some or all of these matters could materially affect future results of operations in a particular period.
On April 20, 2021, Capella University received a letter from the Department of Education referencing Wright, et al. v. Capella Education Co., et al. (subsequently captioned Ornelas, et al. v. Capella, et al.), United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, Case No. 18-cv-1062, and indicating that the Department would require a fact-finding process pursuant to the borrower defense to repayment regulations to determine the validity of more than 1,000 borrower defense applications that have been submitted regarding Capella University. According to the Department, some of the applications allege similar claims as in the Wright matter concerning alleged misrepresentations of the length of time to complete doctoral programs. Capella University subsequently received approximately 500 applications for borrower defense to repayment. Capella University contested each claim for defense to repayment in individualized responses with supporting evidence, the last of which was sent to the Department in August 2021. Since that time, Capella University has not received any communication from the Department related to the set of
borrower defense claims received in 2021, nor has Capella University received indication that any of these claims has been evaluated on the facts presented and adjudicated on the merits.
On June 22, 2022, in litigation in which Capella University is not a party, Sweet, et al. v. Miguel Cardona and the United States Department of Education, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 3:19-cv-03674-WHA, the Department joined a proposed class settlement agreement that would result in a blanket grant of automatic, presumptive relief for all borrower defense to repayment applications filed by students at any of approximately 150 different listed institutions, including Capella University, through June 22, 2022. The class settlement agreement would also provide certain expedited review of borrower defense claims related to schools excluded from the automatic relief list, as well as for borrowers who applied during the period after execution of the settlement and before final approval. The court granted final approval of the settlement on November 16, 2022. Intervenors, including multiple intervening higher education institutions and companies, appealed the court’s order and moved to stay the court’s final judgment approving the settlement pending resolution of the appeal. Intervenors’ attempts to stay the judgment pending full consideration of appeal have been denied, including by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 13, 2023.
In a July 25, 2022 filing in the same litigation, the Department stated that providing automatic relief to such borrowers “does not constitute the granting or adjudication of a borrower defense pursuant to the Borrower Defense Regulations, and therefore provides no basis to the Department for initiating a borrower defense recoupment proceeding against any institution identified” on the list. It is unclear whether the Department would attempt to seek recovery from Capella University for the amounts of discharged loans. The Department has indicated that any recoupment against institutions “could be imposed only after the Department initiated a separate, future proceeding, in accordance with regulations that require the Department to prove a sufficient basis for liability and provide schools with notice and an opportunity to be heard.” If the Department were to seek recovery for the amounts of discharged loans, Capella University would dispute and defend against such efforts. At this time, the Company is unable to predict the ultimate outcome of Capella-related borrower defense applications.