9 million Americans were wrongly told their student debt was erased

The messages were part of updates the Department of Education issued in November to inform 16 million debt relief applicants that they had been approved to have up to $20,000 forgiven.

And others who hadn't yet applied for the student loan relief program also received the email. .

The error was made by Accenture Federal Services, a contractor with the Education Department, which sent the emails on November 22 and 23.

"We are in close touch with Accenture Federal Services as they take corrective action to ensure all borrowers and those affected have accurate information about debt relief.".

"Accenture Federal Services regrets the human error that led to an email being sent to a number of student loan debt relief applicants with an inaccurate subject line," the firm said

"Working closely with the Department, Accenture Federal Services will review quality control measures to support accurate and timely communications to applicants in the Student Loan Debt Relief program."