Only 26 borrowers have been approved out of the roughly 34,000 people who have applied to a popular student loan forgiveness plan, CNBC reported Tuesday, citing figures released by a conference held by the Education Department this week.

More than 20,000 applications are also reportedly still pending in instances where the borrowers have not been denied, CNBC also reported.

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Earlier this year, Congress authorized $350 million to make fixes to a popular student loan forgiveness plan that many financial experts said was failing.

However, some remain critical as only a handful of people have been approved for the program compared to the tens of thousands of applications for the plan.

While speaking at a conference on Tuesday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Elizabeth (Betsy) Dee DeVosSpecial counsel investigating DeVos for potential Hatch Act violation: report NEA president says Azar and DeVos should resign over school reopening guidance The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - You might want to download TikTok now MORE warned of a crisis in education as the number of outstanding student loans owed to the federal government reaches nearly $1.5 trillion.

According to The Associated Press, DeVos raised a "red warning flag" and called for the government to change how it distributes student loans and also said students should have more support to take the path "that's right for them,” even if it doesn’t lead them to a traditional college.