The Education Department is seeking “corrective action” after an email mistakenly told 9 million Americans they were approved for student loan forgiveness.
Between Nov. 22-23, 9 million student loan relief applications received an email telling them they had been approved for federal relief. The subject line read “Your Student Loan Debt Relief Application Has Been Approved” but was meant to read “Update on Student Loan Debt Relief,” informing applicants that their application had been received.
According to Insider, which first reported the story, the content of the email was accurate. The body of the email told borrowers that the Education Department had received an application and income information adding that the department “will keep your application information and will continue our review of your eligibility if and when we prevail in court.”
Accenture Federal Services, a contractor with the Education Department, made the error and is planning to send new emails with a corrected subject line to borrowers in the coming days.
“Accenture Federal Services regrets the human error that led to an email being sent to a number of student loan debt relief applicants with an inaccurate subject line,” the firm said. “Working closely with the Department, Accenture Federal Services will review quality control measures to support accurate and timely communications to applicants in the Student Loan Debt Relief program.”
The Education Department said that they are “in close touch with Accenture Federal Services as they take corrective action to ensure all borrowers and those affected have accurate information about debt relief.”
The loan forgiveness plan was stalled following a U.S. Court of Appeals injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by six states seeking to block the program. In response to the delayed relief and legal battles, the Education Department extended loan repayment freezes in late November. The freezes were meant to resume on Jan. 1 and have been extended eight times since March 2020.
The plan forgives up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individuals whose annual income is below $125,000. Sixteen million borrowers have already applied for loan forgiveness and the Biden administration estimates the program could cancel debt for over 40 million people.
