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PSLF Borrowers Are Watching Qualifying Payments Vanish From Their Accounts — and the Education Department Won't Say How Many

Some Public Service Loan Forgiveness borrowers have watched their qualifying-payment counts fall by dozens overnight. The Education Department blames coding errors tied to a Biden-era policy change. It hasn't said how many borrowers are affected, or whether legitimately earned credit was erased along with the errors.

Meridians Life Desk

Published 24 August 2026 · Updated 24 August 2026 · 5 min read

PSLF Borrowers Are Watching Qualifying Payments Vanish From Their Accounts — and the Education Department Won't Say How ManyEducation
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The short answer

  • Borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness have reported sudden drops in their qualifying-payment counts — in cases reported by Forbes and TheStreet, one fell from nearly 120 payments to 94, another from 103 to 88 after submitting a routine employment certification.
  • The Education Department attributes the reversals to "PSLF counter code errors" tied to changes made in May 2024, when loan servicing shifted and the prior administration applied the Limited PSLF Waiver and a one-time Income-Driven Repayment account adjustment.
  • A department spokesperson described the changes as "technical accounting corrections rather than the result of any new PSLF policy," but has not disclosed how many borrowers were affected or whether the corrections also removed legitimately qualifying payments.
  • PSLF requires 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer; losing payment credit can add a year or more to a borrower's timeline to forgiveness.

If your Public Service Loan Forgiveness payment count dropped this month, you're not imagining it. Borrowers have been reporting the same thing since early August: a dashboard update, or a routine employment certification, and the number resets lower — sometimes by two dozen payments or more. Meridians has not reviewed individual borrower accounts; the account details below are as reported by Forbes and TheStreet, drawing on borrower complaints and Education Department statements.

What's happening

Forbes reported Aug. 18 that the department had rescinded qualifying payment credit for some PSLF borrowers without advance notice. TheStreet, reporting Aug. 22, described specific cases: one borrower's count fell from nearly 120 payments to 94 after a dashboard update; another dropped from 103 to 88 after submitting an employment certification form — the routine paperwork PSLF borrowers file to confirm ongoing eligibility.

The department's explanation

The department has blamed the reversals on coding errors from the previous administration, pointing specifically to counter-code problems tied to the Limited PSLF Waiver and the one-time Income-Driven Repayment Account Adjustment — two policies from 2022–2024 that broadened which past payments counted toward forgiveness. Both were implemented when PSLF processing moved in-house in May 2024. A department representative told reporters the changes were "technical accounting corrections rather than the result of any new PSLF policy."

What borrowers can do right now

  • Request a written PSLF payment count history from your servicer (MOHELA) rather than relying on the online dashboard alone.
  • Re-submit an Employment Certification Form if you haven't in the past year — errors are more likely to surface when your account is recalculated.
  • Screenshot and date your payment counts periodically, so you have your own record if a dispute arises.
  • If a drop looks wrong, file a complaint with the FSA Ombudsman rather than waiting for the department to catch the error on its own.

Sources

Every factual claim above is traceable to these documents. Check them — that is why they are here.

About this byline

Meridians Life Desk is an editorial desk at Meridians, not an individual. A desk byline means the article was produced and fact-checked to that desk's published standards. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy.

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