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Nine million people who applied for student loan forgiveness received an email in November saying their application had been approved. Unfortunately, another message arrived this week admitting that the approval email was sent in error.
Thanks to lawsuits over the program, federal courts have blocked debt forgiveness. The millions who received the inaccurate approval email have some cause for hope: their applications are simply in limbo for now and have not been rejected or approved.
“Due to a supplier error,” the new message read in part, “you recently received an email with a subject line indicating that your application for the One-Time Student Loan Debt Relief Plan was approved. The subject line was inaccurate. The instance of the previous email was correct. “
CNN reports that Accenture Services, the vendor in question, blamed human error for the wrong subject line.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in February 2023 on whether the student loan forgiveness program is legal, with an opinion likely to follow in June. Should the court rule in favor of the government, millions eligible for the program could see $10,000 to $20,000 of their federal student debt forgiven.
Meanwhile, President Biden’s pandemic payment pause, originally set to expire at the end of this year, will remain in effect for two months after the Supreme Court hearing, ending in early summer 2023. If the student loan forgiveness program is revived, up to 40 million Americans are eligible.
