FEDS: THOUSANDS MAY HAVE STUDENT DEBT THAT SHOULD BE ERASED

Record-keeping failures by the federal government may have left thousands of Americans saddled with student debt that should have been automatically canceled through a benefit for low-income borrowers, according to a new federal study.

In a scathing report released this week, the Government Accountability Office faulted the Education Department for sloppy oversight of its income-driven repayment program — a collection of plans that offer reduced monthly payments and carry a promise to erase all remaining debt after 20 or 25 years of payments.

The study, requested by Congress, , identified 7,700 federal student loans that