a. The United States Department of Education oversees the issuance of millions of dollars of financial aid to college students in the form of student loans and work study grants. The Department also collects information about the racial and socioeconomic background of students in universities that receive financial aid, the financial viability, curricula and accreditation status of those universities, and a wealth of other information about those schools.

b. The Students Alliance for Fair Financial Aid sends a letter to the Secretary of Education that requests, pursuant to FOIA, "any records that address financial assistance to university students."

c. Question to think about: As Secretary of Education, you would prefer to avoid responding to the request. Can you argue that the request is not a proper request under FOIA? Why or why not?

a. Assume that the Department of Education receives copies of the accreditation reports of every school that receives financial aid in order to verify that the school has been accredited by the appropriate accrediting authority. Assume that such accreditation reports are usually over 100 pages long and contain detailed information about the school's curriculum, faculty, educational mission, and similar information. Assume that over 7,000 schools (including 2,000 liberal arts colleges) have submitted accreditation reports to the Department.

b. Walter University began operations in 1996, and is currently preparing an accreditation report that it will submit to the national liberal arts colleges accrediting authority. Walter University would like to see the reports that have been approved by the authority in the past, but the authority will not release those reports to Walter University.

c. Walter University files a FOIA request with the Department of Education, requesting copies of every accreditation report that has been filed with the Department by a liberal arts college.

d. Question to think about: As Secretary of Education, you foresee that it will be quite expensive and time consuming to respond to this request. Can you argue that the request is not a proper request under FOIA? Can you recover any of your costs in responding to the request?

a. Among its other duties, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) establishes guidelines and regulations that govern the manner in which cattle are raised, killed, and processed into beef. USDA requires beef producers to file annual reports that identify volumes of production, gross sales, net profit, and any violation of the beef processing guidelines or regulations. USDA also conducts inspections of slaughterhouses and beef processing plants to ensure that beef producers are complying with the guidelines and regulations.

b. Flossie Foods, a major beef producer, files a FOIA request with USDA, seeking the gross sale and net profit figures for its five major competitors, who have submitted that information to USDA in the annual report required by the agency.

c. Question to think about: Should USDA release that information to Flossie Foods under FOIA? If not, on what grounds could they refuse to release the information?

a. USDA's guidelines for beef processing require beef processors to test samples of beef for several different bacteria and contaminants. While the agency was developing the guidelines, it received a memorandum from the Department of Commerce (DOC). The DOC memorandum argued that the beef industry is an important commercial industry in the United States, and is supported by a powerful political lobby in Southwestern and Western states, and that the guidelines should not require extensive testing of beef because such testing could harm the financial viability of the industry. USDA rejected DOC's position, and imposed stringent sampling requirements in the guidelines.

b. Flossie Foods has learned that DOC opposed the final guidelines and submitted comments on the guidelines while USDA was developing them. Flossie files a FOIA request with USDA, seeking to obtain any comments that DOC made on the guidelines.

c. Question to think about: Can USDA refuse to release the DOC comments? On what grounds?