Christina Quinones was two payments away from reaching the threshold for student loan forgiveness.
She had been chasing for nine years and ten months Public Service Loan Forgivenesswhich forgives student debt for government and nonprofit employees after 10 years of qualifying payments. Quinones, who works in a school district in Texas, looked forward to the relief she said would come soon.
Then this summer she got a letter from her servicer: Her 118 eligible payments were reduced to 98, putting her nearly two more years on the path to loan forgiveness.
“I was just shy of two payments,” the 42-year-old said. “What happened?”
The answer lies in the changes the federal government has made to student loan bills in recent years.
In May 2024, the Biden administration extended credit for some payments that were previously ineligible for forgiveness through PSLF or income-driven repayment plans.
Now the Department of Education says coding errors “have resulted in inaccurate payment counts for some borrowers.” A department spokesperson did not comment on the number of borrowers affected by the “code errors” and ordered the PSLF payments removed.
Business Insider reviewed the letter from Quinones’ administrator, which stated that “one or more of your eligible payments have changed status to ‘ineligible'” and that in order to receive credit, she had to move to a qualifying repayment plan.
Since President Donald Trump review of student loan repayments which went into effect on July 1, borrowers have reported a range of problems with their payments, including higher bills, inaccurate payments and difficulty getting clear answers from their servicers. The Ministry of Education said the changes are aimed at curbing excessive borrowing and simplifying a complex repayment system, but borrowers say they are struggling to navigate the changes as they plan for their financial future.
Quinones feels defeated. She said her administrator could not provide a clear explanation as to why her payments were ineligible, and that she is holding off on making further payments until she receives clarity on her PSLF status.
“I was super excited because I was so close to enlightenment,” Quinones said. “And now I’m just so upset.”
Waiting for student loan forgiveness
Jennifer Krabill, 47, is in a similar situation. She worked for the states of New Jersey and Maryland for over a decade and made 90 qualifying payments to PSLF. In August, her administrator said eight of those payments were ineligible.
“My life was basically hijacked for another eight months,” Krabill said.
Her $120,000 student loan comes from a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree program at American University and a JD from the Delaware School of Law. She’s been making monthly payments for more than seven years, and it hasn’t been easy: In 2016, her wages were garnished when she couldn’t pay off her student loans on a five-figure income.
She said PSLF was a beacon of hope; Forgiveness of the loan would give her the freedom to move to Ohio to be closer to her family. Now that the payment term has been extended, she feels like she is ‘in a hostage situation’.
“It makes me physically sick,” Krabill said. “I don’t even know what I owe because of all the extra things they did.”
Borrower advocates have criticized the Trump administration’s decision to rescind PSLF loans. Julie Margetta Morgan, an Education Department official under Biden, said in a statement that “someone needs to stand up for borrowers here.”
‘Make sure that civil servants get what they are entitled to. Make officials pay for the mistakes they caused. Also make Federal Student Aid responsible for the problems it caused,” Morgan said. “Do all that before you even think about reinstating a single loan.”
The PSLF program is also embroiled in lawsuits. The Department of Education planned to roll out a rule in July that would do just that limited participation in the programwith the exception of employers who did not adhere to the government’s definition of “public service,” such as employers who supported gender-affirming care. A federal judge blocked the rule’s implementation, and the Trump administration recently appealed the ruling.
Krabill’s current plan: Send letters to her local lawmakers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about her situation, in hopes of getting back the lost PSLF credit.
“I’m beyond frustrated,” she said. “It took me a few days to even recover. I can’t believe it took months.”
Do you have a story to tell about student loans? Contact this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.
