Education Department officials have approved thousands more requests for loan relief from borrowers who claim they were defrauded by the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institutes.

"The department is making continued progress with adjudicating borrower defense claims and processing closed school loan discharges for impacted borrowers," officials said in a statement Friday afternoon. "To date, more than 28,000 total [Corinthian Colleges Inc.] claims have been approved, representing approximately $558 million in loan relief."

Figures related to CCI claims were last updated in October, at which time the department said it had approved about $247 million in loan relief for students who attended the former for-profit chain of schools. Officials on Friday also said they have received 14,200 loan discharge applications from ITT students, of which 6,300 have been granted relief so far.

The department said it has already informed the "vast majority" of borrowers whose claims have been approved that they "can expect to receive full discharge relief within the coming weeks."

Another $30 million in federal loans to students who attended the Massachusetts-based American Career Institute will also be forgiven automatically, officials announced.

Most of the loans being forgiven qualify under the "borrower defense" statute, which promises student debt relief to any American who can prove they were defrauded by an educational institution. The law also applies to students who were unable to complete a degree program because their school closed.