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Title 20, EducationRelease 119-110

§1234g Judicial Review

Title 20 › CHAPTER 31 — GENERAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING EDUCATION › SUBCHAPTER IV — ENFORCEMENT › § 1234g

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

People or States who get federal program money and are harmed by a final agency decision, or a State whose grant application was denied, can ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for their circuit to review that decision. They must file a petition within 60 days. The court clerk sends a copy to the Secretary, who must file the official case record. The Secretary may not act on the decision until the court finishes its review. If the agency’s factual findings are backed by substantial evidence, the court will accept them as final. The court can send the case back to the agency to gather more evidence. The agency may change its findings or decision and must give the court the new record. The appeals court can uphold or overturn the action in whole or in part. The Supreme Court may review the court’s judgment by certiorari or certification under 28 U.S.C. 1254.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §1234g

Education, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Recipients entitled to review; stay of action by Secretary
Any recipient of funds under an applicable program that would be adversely affected by a final agency action under section 1234a, 1234d, or 1234e of this title, and any State entitled to receive funds under a program described in section 1232d(a) of this title whose application has been disapproved by the Secretary, shall be entitled to judicial review of such action in accordance with the provisions of this section. The Secretary may not take any action on the basis of a final agency action until judicial review is completed.
(b)Petition for review; filing of record
A recipient that desires judicial review of an action described in subsection (a) shall, within 60 days of that action, file with the United States Court of Appeals for the circuit in which that recipient is located, a petition for review of such action. A copy of the petition shall be transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Secretary. The Secretary shall file in the court the record of the proceedings on which the action was based, as provided in section 2112 of title 28.
(c)Findings of fact
The findings of fact by the Office, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive; but the court, for good cause shown, may remand the case to the Office to take further evidence, and the Office may make new or modified findings of fact and may modify its previous action, and shall certify to the court the record of the further proceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall likewise be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence.
(d)Scope of review; review by Supreme Court
The court shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Office or the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in section 1254 of title 28.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–382 made technical amendment to reference to section 1232d(a) of this title to reflect renumbering of corresponding section of original act.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective 180 days after Apr. 28, 1988, but not applicable to recipients receiving written notice to return funds prior to that date, see section 3501(b) of Pub. L. 100–297, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1988 Amendment note under section 1234 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 1234g

Title 20, Education

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110