The Education Department on Monday sent emails to nearly 9 million Americans correcting previous emails mistakenly informing borrowers they were approved for loan forgiveness.

Millions of student loan relief applicants in late November received an email with the subject line "Your Student Loan Debt Relief Application Has Been Approved." The email headline was supposed to read "Update on Student Loan Debt Relief," informing applicants that their application had been received.

The recent email blames the erroneous headline on a "vendor error." Accenture Federal Services, a contractor with the Education Department, apologized and said it will "review quality control measures to support accurate and timely communications to applicants in the Student Loan Debt Relief program."

An email sent by the Education Department on Monday aimed to mitigate confusion caused by the mistaken headline.

"Due to a vendor error, you recently received an email with a subject line indicating your application for the one-time Student Loan Debt Relief Plan had been approved. The subject line was inaccurate. The body of the previous email was accurate," the email read.

"We have received your application but are not permitted to review your eligibility because of ongoing litigation. We will keep your application information and review your eligibility if and when we prevail in court."

The brief email apologized for the confusion and told borrowers they do not need to take further action.

"Communicating clearly and accurately with borrowers is a top priority of the Department," the department said in a statement shortly after the erroneous email was sent.

The student loan forgiveness plan forgives up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individuals whose annual income is below $125,000. President Biden announced the program in August but it has been stalled by a U.S. Court of Appeals injunction resulting from a lawsuit filed by six states seeking to block the program.

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