The U.S. Department of Education is reevaluating account histories for borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness — in some cases, reducing the number of qualifying payments and pushing those individuals further away from debt cancellation.

PSLF, which was created in 2007, wipes away the federal student debt of government and nonprofit workers after 10 years, or 120 qualifying monthly payments. Roughly 1.2 million public servants have seen their debt erased under the program, with an average cleared balance of nearly $75,000, according to the Brookings Institution.

Several posts on social media platforms appear to document borrower experiences, with one individual saying in a Reddit comment that they saw their payment count fall from nearly 120 to 94.

"We've had a few clients who saw their PSLF count drop," said Nancy Nierman, assistant director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, a nonprofit that helps borrowers navigate repayment.

"It's concerning when someone who relies on numbers reported to them by the government finds out that, through no fault of their own, those numbers were incorrect," Nierman added.

An Education Department spokesperson said the agency is correcting "coding errors" made by the Biden administration.

"These errors resulted in inaccurate payment counts for some borrowers," the spokesperson wrote to CNBC in an email. "The Department remains committed to ensuring that every qualifying payment is properly credited to a borrower's account."

A longer student loan repayment timeline can force borrowers to postpone major life milestones, such as homeownership, marriage or starting a family, consumer advocates said. For many public servants, a reduced payment count will also mean they have to remain in lower-paying positions to stay eligible for PSLF.

Under the Biden administration, student loan borrowers were offered opportunities to get their payment counts for PSLF reconsidered by the Education Department. They also were able to get credit for some periods that previously didn't count, such as during certain payment pauses.

The overhaul followed a 2022 U.S. Government Accountability Office report that found borrowers weren't always receiving a proper accounting of their payments. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had also sounded the alarm in 2015 that borrowers were needlessly steered into expensive forbearances, during which interest accrues and credit toward forgiveness is paused.

The Education Department did not respond to CNBC's questions about what Biden administration-era changes led to the errors.

Student loan borrowers who've seen a change to their PSLF qualifying payment counts are also not being provided reasons by the government, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. That's concerning, he said.

"When a borrower isn't given a specific explanation, they are unable to verify whether the change was accurate," Kantrowitz said.

The adjusted payment counts are not the result of any new PSLF policy, said Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group for federal student loan servicers.

"It was purely technical accounting errors," Buchanan said, adding that others could benefit from the corrections.

"Some borrowers are going to see their PSLF counts go up," he said.

If you've lost qualifying payments and feel it's a mistake, you can submit a PSLF reconsideration request to the Education Department, Nierman said.

To protect yourself against tracking errors, screenshot your payment count on your Federal Student Aid account. Download your bank statements to maintain your own personal record of every payment made, Nierman said.

To ensure your employment remains eligible, fill out the so-called employer certification form at least once a year, she added. Keep a record of these forms, as well.

Have you recently seen your PSLF payment count change? If you're willing to share your story, please email [email protected].