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.

The Education Department said Friday it will no longer try to delay an Obama-era regulation that helped students defrauded by for-profit colleges get their loans forgiven. A federal court ruled last month that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ decision to delay the regulation, known as borrower defense, was unlawful and that the rule should go into effect. The department had until next Tuesday to respond.

A key court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in a case involving an industry group’s challenge to the U.S. Department of Education’s 2016 borrower defense rule. Last month, a federal judge ruled in a related case that the department had illegally acted to delay the 2016 borrower defense rule, which incorporated critical protections for students.

It probably surprises no one that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is not making sense, but her stands on key issues are starting to be noticed in the courts. And while DeVos would not usually be held personally liable for the harm she is doing to students, borrowers, or taxpayers, there is at least one exception: if she knowingly and improperly allocates taxpayer dollars.