NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — In an effort to correct mistakes by loan services, the U.S. Department of Education is retroactively adjusting student loan accounts to show corrected payment records.

The result of that one-time adjustment is that about 804,000 federal student loan borrowers will have a total of $39 billion forgiven —  and in some cases no longer need to make any payments at all.

The review and revision focuses on people who had income-driven repayment plans and had been paying back loans for 20 or 25 years; but never received credit for late or partial payments. The adjustment also credits borrowers for months before the pandemic pause in which they were allowed to, on an individual basis, pause or reduce payments due to financial hardship.

The Department of Education says 95% of those who qualify have been informed of the account updates.

The examples include Karen Engstrom, age 82, who learned that more than $175,000 in debt had been erased from her account.

“Info: Your student loans have been forgiven,” an Aug. 28 letter read. “Congratulations! The Biden-Harris Administration has forgiven your federal student loan(s) listed below with Edfinancial Services in full.”

The letter listed two original federal loan amounts of $30,067.45 and $45,729.97 — now gone, along with accumulated interest that more than doubled her total. She had paid on the loans for decades, but her loan record was incorrect because of administrative and servicer errors.

The White House has said it will continue to contact borrowers who qualify for cancellation based on their income-driven payment records through the end of the year.

Additional details are on the Federal Student Aid website.

Copyright 2023 NEWSnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.