WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court for violating an order to stop collecting loans from thousands of former for-profit college students.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim issued the ruling Thursday in San Francisco. She also fined the Education Department $100,000.

Kim previously ordered DeVos to stop collecting federal loans from former Corinthian Colleges students who applied for loan forgiveness after the chain shut down in 2015 amid allegations of fraud.

The Obama administration sought to make it easier for defrauded students to get loans forgiven, but the Trump administration has worked to tighten the rules.

The Education Department acknowledged in September that it continued to collect loans from more than 3,000 former Corinthian students, prompting Kim's response.

The department did not immediately comment.

