The U.S. Department of Education announced Joseph A. Smith has been appointed as special master to help the department and student borrowers through the debt relief process in the wake of the Corinthian Colleges shutdown. Smith's appointment is a part of the Obama administration's debt relief plan that is expected to help federal borrowers who can prove they were defrauded by their college. Read more...

The former student loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- who is still taking on for-profit colleges from his new perch -- sent a letter to ITT Educational Services investors Wednesday asking them to reform the for-profit institution. Read more...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Monday wrote to three web search engines -- Google, Bing and Yahoo -- to ask the companies to work with federal and state authorities to prevent "student debt relief scammers" from targeting distressed borrowers. Read more...

The official who has driven the U.S. Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's increasingly aggressive scrutiny of student loans and for-profit higher education is leaving the agency. Read more...

In a speech billed as a campaign opening, Hillary Clinton, favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, pledged Saturday to take steps to help students afford higher education. She twice referred to students' debt burdens, and vowed to do something about them. Read more...

By Paul Fain. The messy dismantling of Corinthian Colleges is moving through a federal bankruptcy court, as a judge mulls whether to halt loan repayments for up to 350,000 former students and the defunct for-profit chain seeks the court’s approval for the fire sale of its remaining assets – including trademarks, furniture and even old diplomas and typewriters. Read more...