Students defrauded by for-profit colleges scored an important victory on Tuesday, when a court cleared the way for an Obama-era policy that will make it easier for them to get their student loans forgiven.

A judge ruled on Tuesday that an Obama-era set of consumer protections for defrauded students will go into effect immediately, after repeated attempts by the Trump administration and the for-profit college sector to delay the regulation.

The Education Department must implement Obama-era rules that set up a procedure for students who were defrauded by their colleges to have their federal student loans forgiven, a court ruled Tuesday.

An Obama-era rule designed to help students cheated by for-profit colleges get relief on their education debt finally took effect Tuesday after efforts by the Trump administration to block it. A federal judge ordered immediate implementation of the rule, delayed last year by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, while a challenge from the for-profit college industry proceeds.

A federal court on Tuesday cleared the way for Obama-era student loan borrower protections to take effect, handing a defeat to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos after she fought for more than a year to stop the rules.

An Obama-era regulation aimed at providing relief for scammed student-loan borrowers takes effect Tuesday, despite efforts by the Betsy DeVos-led Department of Education to delay it. Judge Randolph Moss struck down an attempt by a group of private colleges to block the regulation, known as borrower defense, paving the way for it to take effect.

A long-delayed federal rule intended to protect student loan borrowers who were defrauded by their schools went into effect on Tuesday, after a judge rejected an industry challenge and the Education Department ended efforts to stall it any longer.