PSLF Borrowers Lose Payment Credits After Department of Education Recalculation
Thousands of Public Service Loan Forgiveness borrowers saw their qualifying payment counts drop unexpectedly in August 2026 after the Department of Education recalculated accounts. The department attributed the changes to coding errors from May 2024 that had incorrectly credited payments under the Limited PSLF Waiver and One-Time IDR Account Adjustment. Borrowers are advised to document their payment history and file reconsideration requests if they believe their count is wrong.
Thousands of borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness saw their qualifying payment counts drop unexpectedly in August 2026, causing alarm among public service workers who had been counting on those credits toward debt cancellation.
The U.S. Department of Education attributed the changes to coding errors from May 2024 that had resulted in the rollback of credits previously granted under the Limited PSLF Waiver and the One-Time IDR Account Adjustment. While the department initially described the changes as technical errors, later communications suggested some adjustments were intentional corrections of prior miscalculations.
Borrowers who were close to or had already reached the 120-payment threshold for forgiveness were among those most affected. Some reported losing dozens of qualifying payments from their tracker on StudentAid.gov.
The department has not provided a clear explanation of the full scope of the changes or a definitive timeline for when affected accounts might be corrected. Borrowers reported receiving inconsistent information from student loan servicers and Federal Student Aid representatives.
Financial and legal experts advised borrowers to take several steps to protect their interests. They recommended capturing screenshots of current PSLF tracker data, downloading full payment histories from StudentAid.gov and individual servicer portals, and ensuring all Employer Certification Forms are up to date.
Experts also warned against consolidating loans or stopping payments in response to the count changes, saying those actions could have long-term negative consequences on PSLF eligibility.
Borrowers who believe their count is inaccurate were encouraged to submit a PSLF reconsideration request through the Department of Education and, if necessary, file a complaint with the FSA Ombudsman.
Advocacy groups called on the department to pause student loan payments until the errors are resolved, citing "deepening chaos" in the federal student loan system.
