Nearly all student borrowers who applied for loans forgiveness under a program for public and nonprofit workers have had their applications denied, according to new data from the Education Department.

More than 28,000 borrowers applied to have their loans discharged under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which forgives loans for public and nonprofit workers who have made a decade’s worth of qualifying payments. The program first began discharging loans in November 2017. As of the end of June, only 289 application had been approved for discharge.

The other 99 percent of discharge applications were denied, either because the applicants had not met program requirements or were missing information.

The department did not provide a breakdown of what requirement applicants did not meet.

Congress set aside $350 million last year to help borrowers who thought they were in the program but were disqualified on a technicality. This week, the Senate passed spending legislation (H.R. 6157) that would set aside an additional $350 million for loan forgiveness.

As of the end of June, 96 borrowers had $5.52 million in student loans forgiven.

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