Capital Digest

The U.S. Department of Justice has ended a multi-year probe of higher-education financial-aid practices without bringing charges against any college or university.

All such cases were closed several months ago, according to Daniel Hamilton, a spokesman for the department. But department officials would not reveal how many institutions had been under investigation.

"As a matter of policy,'' said Joseph C. Krovisky, another department spokesman, "we never identify any person, company, or individual under investigation until we file public documents and we've taken some...