U.S. Department of Education reduces student loan forgiveness credits

The U.S. Department of Education is reducing the number of qualifying payments credited toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program for thousands of borrowers. This rollback affects government and nonprofit workers who rely on the program to have their student debt forgiven after 10 years of qualifying payments.

Department officials attributed the adjustments to “multiple PSLF counter code errors” that allegedly stemmed from changes implemented in May 2024 under the previous administration. The administration stated that the Federal Student Aid office has resolved the issue and notified the vast majority of affected individuals. However, the department has not disclosed the exact number of borrowers impacted by these downward adjustments.

Critics and advocacy groups have condemned the move. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, stated that public service workers should not pay the price for administrative mistakes. Former student loan ombudsman Julia Barnard described the impact as “profoundly cruel,” arguing that borrowers should be held harmless for errors they did not cause.