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Borrowers Report False PSLF Forbearance Alerts As StudentAid.gov Errors Pile Up
Student loan borrowers are reporting a wave of notifications inside their StudentAid.gov accounts warning that their Public Service Loan Forgiveness applications show loans in forbearance or deferment or that “no loans qualify for PSLF”. Borrowers sharing screenshots with The College Investor say the alerts don’t match their accounts: their loans are in active repayment, they’re enrolled in a qualifying repayment plan, and their employment is certified.
One borrower’s notification feed showed three separate alerts stating “your PSLF application shows at least one loan in forbearance or deferment,” stacked next to another claiming “your PSLF application has no loans that qualify for PSLF”, none of which reflected the actual status of the loans.
The alerts come after the PSLF payment count problems borrowers have reported over the past several weeks.
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Why It Matters
These new alerts are coming after several weeks of PSLF data issues. On August 7, Federal Student Aid posted a banner on StudentAid.gov admitting that PSLF qualifying month counts are incorrect, after borrowers reported trackers suddenly dropping.
The Department of Education has also confirmed it rescinded qualifying payment credit from thousands of accounts, blaming “PSLF counter code errors stemming from changes implemented in May 2024.”
Forbes reports at least three separate glitches are currently costing borrowers forgiveness credit, including legitimate qualifying payments being flipped to ineligible.
What Borrowers Are Seeing
The notifications fit a broader breakdown in PSLF data systems that we’ve been tracking since July.
- Repeated portal notifications flagging loans as in forbearance or deferment when they’re in active repayment
- “No loans qualify for PSLF” messages sent to borrowers with Direct Loans, certified employment, and qualifying plans
- July and August 2026 payments failing to post to PSLF trackers
- Payment counts dropping, sometimes for borrowers who’s payments should have counted
What’s Next
Borrowers should not panic yet, especially as the systems are undergoing a massive amounts of updates. We’ve heard previously that borrowers should see some resolution with the payment count issues within the next 60 days, and we expect to see similar updates with these notifications as the systems get repaired.
Until then, borrowers shouldn’t panic over portal alerts, but they should document everything: screenshot payment trackers, download payment histories, and keep copies of employment certifications, as outlined in our PSLF checklist. At the end of the day, like it or not, borrowers are responsible for keeping track of their own records and following up on errors.
Watch for corrected counts and potentially an official explanation from the Department of Education in the coming weeks.
Editor: Colin Graves
The post Borrowers Report False PSLF Forbearance Alerts As StudentAid.gov Errors Pile Up appeared first on The College Investor.
