Christina Quinones was two payments away from reaching the threshold for student-loan forgiveness.
She’d spent nine years and 10 months pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. Quinones, who works in a Texas school district, was looking forward to the relief she believed was coming soon.
Then she got a letter from her servicer this summer: her 118 qualifying payments were decreased to 98, tacking on nearly two more years to her 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 made to student-loan accounts in recent years.
In May 2024, the Biden administration extended a credit for some payments that had been previously deemed ineligible for forgiveness through PSLF or income-driven repayment plans.
Now, the Department of Education says coding errors “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 had PSLF payments removed.
Business Insider reviewed the letter from Quinones’ servicer, which said that “one or more of your qualifying payments has changed status to ‘non-qualifying,'” and that in order to receive credit, she had to switch to a qualifying repayment plan.
Since President Donald Trump’s student-loan repayment overhaul took effect July 1, borrowers have reported a range of challenges with their payments, including higher bills, inaccurate payments, and difficulty getting clear answers from their servicers. The Education Department said its changes are intended to curb excessive borrowing and simplify a complex repayment system, but borrowers said they’re struggling to navigate the changes while planning for their financial futures.
Quinones is feeling defeated. She said her servicer could not give a clear explanation of why her payments were deemed ineligible, and she’s holding off on making further ones until she receives clarity on her PSLF status.
“I was super excited because I was so close to relief,” Quinones said. “And now I’m just so upset.”
Holding out for student-loan forgiveness
Jennifer Krabill, 47, is in a similar situation. She spent more than a decade working for the states of New Jersey and Maryland, and made 90 qualifying payments toward PSLF. In August, her servicer said eight of those payments were deemed ineligible.
“My life has basically been hijacked for another eight months,” Krabill said.
Her $120,000 student-loan balance comes from a joint bachelor’s and master’s program at American University and a J.D. from Delaware School of Law. She’s spent more than seven years making monthly payments, and it hasn’t been easy: In 2016, her wages were garnished when she couldn’t make her student loan payments on a five-figure income.
She said PSLF was a beacon of hope; loan forgiveness would give her the freedom to move to Ohio, to be closer to her family. With the payment timeline now extended, she feels like she’s “in a hostage situation.”
“It makes me physically sick,” Krabill said. “I don’t even know what I rightfully owe because of all this extra stuff they’ve tacked on.”
Borrower advocates have criticized the Trump administration’s move to rescind PSLF credits. Julie Margetta Morgan, an Education Department official under Biden, said in a statement that “someone needs to stand up for borrowers here.”
“Make sure public servants get what they’re owed. Make servicers pay for errors they caused. Make Federal Student Aid accountable for the problems it caused, too,” Morgan said. “Do all of that before you even think about reinstating a single loan.”
The PSLF program is also embroiled in litigation. The Education Department planned to roll out a rule in July that would have limited eligibility for the program, excluding employers that did not align with the administration’s definition of “public service,” such as those that supported gender-affirming care. A federal judge blocked the rule from being implemented, and the Trump administration recently appealed the ruling.
Krabill’s current plan: send letters to her local lawmakers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding her situation, in hopes of regaining the PSLF credit she lost.
“I’m beyond frustrated,” she said. “It took me a couple of days to even just recover. I can’t believe months just got taken.”
Have a story to share about student loans? Reach out to this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.
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