School goes Bankrupt, new school takes over and wants to collect debt of bankrupt school. Can they do this?

What you need here is clarity as to whether or not you are talking about creditors of the school or debtors.
You have not given any facts as to the school name, type of school, accreditation or what type of financial the school has available.

Most schools that receive financial aide are governed by the Department of Education and if the school is accredited there are rules for teach outs and how the new school or schools step in and finish out the programs.

When schools close, the various accrediting agencies and/or financial aid agencies and their guarantors will often have an ombudsman available to answer the students questions about the loans and monies etc.

Not knowing what state your school is in or what the status of the original school was I am really unable to give you more specific directions to investigate. I know here in california the EdFund has great support for schools that close so that the transition is orderly and in the best interest of the students.

I would contact your current schools financial aide office and get your records of loans, grants etc and ask them to provide you with contacts at your states student loan agencies or guarantors and any accrediting agency if the school was accredited.

I have personally witnessed a school closing and the support to the remaining students and the teach out and coordination was very professional and orderly.

Bankruptcy means the bankrupt entity can't pay its creditors. The new school probably bought the assets of the old school. Among those assets is the stream of income based on the old school's contracts with students.

Sounds like you continued to have the educational opportunity you signed on for. Your obligation to pay doesn't go away just because the school went bankrupt. Bankruptcy means THEIR creditors are out of luck. You're not one of their creditors. You're one of their DEBTORS.

Good luck. I'm not licensed to practice law in California so the foregoing shouldn't be taken as legal advice, but simply as information based on general principles of law which is intended to educate. If you need legal advice, please consult a lawyer who holds California licensure.

The answer to the question lies in what was actually authorized by the Bankruptcy Court. You will need to find out what the new school actually purchased from the bankrupted (debtor) school. Once you have that information you will know better what your rights and remedies may be. It is possible they purchased the assets that included the accounts receivable, but even with that, the terms of what the court authorized are critical. Is it possible the new school is merely the reorganized old (debtor) school that retained all of its assets, including the accounts receivable? Certainly, more certain facts need to be known, and you may want to look at the court record for the old school.

Good luck and best regards.