New legal protection plan gives families a real attorney for campus hearings, Title IX, academic-misconduct cases, and the everyday legal issues college brings

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Legal Services, which has helped hardworking American families handle life's legal moments since 1974, today launched College Defender, a new legal protection plan built for parents of college students. It is the company's first product built for parents and marketed directly to a broad consumer audience.

Parents spend months preparing a student for college and rarely plan for the legal side of campus life. A campus conduct hearing. A Title IX complaint that can derail a career for either student involved. An academic-misconduct accusation, including the growing wave of students accused of using AI on work they wrote. The day a student turns 18 and a parent loses access to their grades, their health information, and the authority to step in. College Defender gives families a real attorney for those moments, and pays 100% of attorney fees on covered matters.

"Every parent thinks about the dorm, the meal plan, and the books. Almost no one thinks about the Title IX hearing, or an academic-integrity accusation over AI use that federal privacy laws can keep a parent from ever hearing about, until they're in it," said Kyle Sweet, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Legal Services. "College Defender is the part of the college checklist nobody plans for. It puts real lawyers in a family's corner, so a college problem doesn't become a problem that follows a student for years." 

College Defender connects families with qualified attorneys through a nationwide network and covers the situations students actually face, including:

• Campus conduct and Title IX matters, including disciplinary hearings and student-code violations
• Academic misconduct, including accusations involving AI-generated work
• A FERPA, HIPAA, and POA document package, so families can stay able to help once a student turns 18, with the student's consent
• Housing and leases, including landlord and roommate disputes and security deposits
• Alcohol and misdemeanor criminal matters, including minor in possession, fake ID, disorderly conduct, DUI, and traffic
• Identity theft, scams, debt collection, and consumer contract disputes
• Emergency legal access if a student is arrested

The plan is designed for parents to purchase and manage the billing, with the student as the policyholder who uses the coverage. It comes as a single plan with no copays, no claim forms, and no surprise attorney fees, for $38.60 per month (or $426.14 per year), and includes a parent education guide. Unlike access-only offers that stop at documents, or add only limited Title IX, College Defender brings the full range together, campus and Title IX hearings, academic-misconduct and AI cases, the records documents, and the everyday issues, with attorney fees paid on covered matters. Families can add Identity Defender for identity monitoring, full-service restoration, and reimbursement up to $1M.

"We built our name protecting families, and a family doesn't stop being a family when a kid leaves for school," said Sweet. "When we looked, we couldn't find a plan built for parents that covered this much of college life and actually paid the attorney, so we built one. Real lawyers, real protection, at a price families can afford."

College Defender is rolling out across the country and is available in select states today at uslegalservices.net, where families can check availability for the state where their student attends school or join the notify list. An employer-offered version is on the company's roadmap for late fall open enrollment.

About U.S. Legal Services Founded in 1974, U.S. Legal Services provides affordable legal protection plans that give individuals, families, and professional drivers predictable access to qualified attorneys when life's legal issues arise. For more information, call 800-356-5297 or visit uslegalservices.net.

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SOURCE U.S. Legal Services