OCCUPY STUDENT DEBT

Student debtor stories submitted by the 99%

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5 posts tagged acs

I have old guaranteed student loans, pre 2002 when I graduated as a non-traditional, GED, single parent student… I am sick enough to qualify for SSD, want to work as long as possible, living on below minimum wage and 57 years old. there is no way I am going to be able to pay these loans off for my PhD. I got sick from an incurable disease during the end of my PhD program, then got swept up in college downsizing for a ‘legacy building, first employer after ABD’. consolidation was denied due to bank mergers, lost paperwork aka: canceled checks. credit too bad to consolidate. I have 1 Perkins loan at the university that I got my MA from, they were not swept up in the D of Ed garnishment (15% gross income) and have put me in a position where work is few and far between. I can’t get a transcript to get a job to keep on working. I have worked up the food chain as far as appeals go, there is no place left to appeal to in the state. obviously, I don’t have the money to hire a lawyer. yes, I have applied for food stamps. we need bankrupcy protection… for me, I don’t make enough money to make the minimum payments. I did not plan to get sick and have no way out. I am getting sicker as time goes on because medicaid has been denied. unstable income, and can’t afford medical care and medications I need to stay alive, I am an adjunct who fears a transcript call from my employer because I can’t get a copy (business office hold, default). I am stuck because without the transcript I can’t get a job. non-PhD jobs turn me down as ‘overqualified and reason I will leave asap” plus credit rating is shot so can’t handle money. (name withheld as a community college adjunct for now because of transcript fear and gurtenteed firing)

I have old guaranteed student loans, pre 2002 when I graduated as a non-traditional, GED, single parent student…
I am sick enough to qualify for SSD, want to work as long as possible, living on below minimum wage and 57 years old. there is no way I am going to be able to pay these loans off for my PhD. I got sick from an incurable disease during the end of my PhD program, then got swept up in college downsizing for a ‘legacy building, first employer after ABD’.
consolidation was denied due to bank mergers, lost paperwork aka: canceled checks. credit too bad to consolidate.
I have 1 Perkins loan at the university that I got my MA from, they were not swept up in the D of Ed garnishment (15% gross income) and have put me in a position where work is few and far between. I can’t get a transcript to get a job to keep on working. I have worked up the food chain as far as appeals go, there is no place left to appeal to in the state. obviously, I don’t have the money to hire a lawyer. yes, I have applied for food stamps.
we need bankrupcy protection… for me, I don’t make enough money to make the minimum payments. I did not plan to get sick and have no way out. I am getting sicker as time goes on because medicaid has been denied. unstable income, and can’t afford medical care and medications I need to stay alive,
I am an adjunct who fears a transcript call from my employer because I can’t get a copy (business office hold, default). I am stuck because without the transcript I can’t get a job. non-PhD jobs turn me down as ‘overqualified and reason I will leave asap” plus credit rating is shot so can’t handle money.
(name withheld as a community college adjunct for now because of transcript fear and gurtenteed firing)

Sallie Mae changed my status between semesters and capitalized my interest

While in school for 4 straight years Sallie Mae changed my status between semesters and capitalized my interest making a $60k loan balloon to $100k. Saying that my “status” changed. It didn’t I was in school and it should have been an in school deferment. That is on my private loans. That’s criminal.

A message to John Kerry, Scott Brown, John Olver, and Barack Obama: Dear Sir, I’m writing to state my frustration about the lack of support from Congress to truly help reduce student loan debt. I would like Congress to pass legislation that would reduce the interest rates on all student loans past, present, and future to 3% or lower. As a first generation college graduate who attended public universities and earned a BS and MEd., and who has been working for the past 15 years full-time and making on-time monthly payments towards my initial total student loan debt of $70,000, I still struggle to pay down the principal balance. Currently, the principal balance is at $65,000 after several years of paying $520/mo. The interest rate is way too high and is too blame! I’m not asking for forgiveness of my debt. I am proud to pay my own way. And as I’ve mentioned, I’ve been making payments on-time all these years but my principal balance barely goes down because the interest rate is way too high. My payment mostly goes to interest, even after all these years of paying $520/mo. Student loan interest rates are just way too high. Rates should be no higher than 3% yet they are at 6% and even higher. My federal interest rate on my consolidated loans started at 8.125%. Thankfully, after years of on-time and automatic payments, the federal lending partner (ACS) knocked it down to 6.5%. Even still that’s very high. I still can barely knock down the principal balance. I’m on schedule to pay off my student loans by 2034 at $520/mo. I will be 62 years old. That’s outrageous. It’s bad for the middle class and our economy. There’s no way to get ahead. If Congress could pass legislation to reduce the interest rate to 3% or lower on all student loans, it would be a win-win situation. The lender would still get a good chunk of profit while the student borrower would have a little less struggle in paying down their principal balance, and thus, have a chance to achieve the American dream of a little bit of prosperity. Please consider sponsoring such a bill that would lower interest rates on all student loans past, present and future. Thank you.

A message to John Kerry, Scott Brown, John Olver, and Barack Obama:

Dear Sir,

I’m writing to state my frustration about the lack of support from Congress to truly help reduce student loan debt. I would like Congress to pass legislation that would reduce the interest rates on all student loans past, present, and future to 3% or lower.

As a first generation college graduate who attended public universities and earned a BS and MEd., and who has been working for the past 15 years full-time and making on-time monthly payments towards my initial total student loan debt of $70,000, I still struggle to pay down the principal balance. Currently, the principal balance is at $65,000 after several years of paying $520/mo. The interest rate is way too high and is too blame!

I’m not asking for forgiveness of my debt. I am proud to pay my own way. And as I’ve mentioned, I’ve been making payments on-time all these years but my principal balance barely goes down because the interest rate is way too high. My payment mostly goes to interest, even after all these years of paying $520/mo.

Student loan interest rates are just way too high. Rates should be no higher than 3% yet they are at 6% and even higher. My federal interest rate on my consolidated loans started at 8.125%. Thankfully, after years of on-time and automatic payments, the federal lending partner (ACS) knocked it down to 6.5%. Even still that’s very high. I still can barely knock down the principal balance. I’m on schedule to pay off my student loans by 2034 at $520/mo. I will be 62 years old. That’s outrageous. It’s bad for the middle class and our economy. There’s no way to get ahead.

If Congress could pass legislation to reduce the interest rate to 3% or lower on all student loans, it would be a win-win situation. The lender would still get a good chunk of profit while the student borrower would have a little less struggle in paying down their principal balance, and thus, have a chance to achieve the American dream of a little bit of prosperity.

Please consider sponsoring such a bill that would lower interest rates on all student loans past, present and future. Thank you.

So after $100k+ for my debt, $75K+ for my husbands debt (with more on they way as he completes his PhD) and a roommate that owes $90k who had to move in with us after school because he couldn’t find a job for over 2 years after his BS in Information Technology and then had to go back to school for a graduate degree in IT Security because he couldn’t afford to pay off his loans after he emptied his savings/inheritance paying off loans from Sallie Mae and ACS that wouldn’t lower the payment even though he had no job and wasn’t allowed to apply for unemployment. My husband and I paid for his life, food etc as well as ours. Now, he makes $30k a year, my husband and I make $35k a year each and still can barely make the mortgage payment, utilities and food as well as student loan payments. Even with no car payments (we all drive POS cars) and keeping things as spare as possible, how are we supposed to be helping the economy when we have no money, as well as not being able to look forward and think about bringing children into this world when my husband and I cannot even afford a slim lifestyle because of $900+ a month in loans that ACS and Sallie Mae wont reduce because our income of $60k for 2 people isn’t poor enough. We are strapped, but no one cares to help because we CHOSE education and now are going to pay for it for the rest of our lives. This doesn’t include what the interest is and will be when we are finally finished with everything. I paid my husbands way in school when he needed to be in graduate school full time+ for medical school so that we didn’t need to take out cost of living loans. We survive on little but because we were as responsible as possible in taking out the least amount of loans as possible, we are now being punished in paying them back and not finding suitable jobs to help pay for the simple necessities like a roof over our heads, food and water, but the government wants us to contribute to the economy as well?! Good thing that we have family and friends to help support our education choices even if they cannot help with supporting us monitarily. ~ Jenn W.

So after $100k+ for my debt, $75K+ for my husbands debt (with more on they way as he completes his PhD) and a roommate that owes $90k who had to move in with us after school because he couldn’t find a job for over 2 years after his BS in Information Technology and then had to go back to school for a graduate degree in IT Security because he couldn’t afford to pay off his loans after he emptied his savings/inheritance paying off loans from Sallie Mae and ACS that wouldn’t lower the payment even though he had no job and wasn’t allowed to apply for unemployment. My husband and I paid for his life, food etc as well as ours. Now, he makes $30k a year, my husband and I make $35k a year each and still can barely make the mortgage payment, utilities and food as well as student loan payments. Even with no car payments (we all drive POS cars) and keeping things as spare as possible, how are we supposed to be helping the economy when we have no money, as well as not being able to look forward and think about bringing children into this world when my husband and I cannot even afford a slim lifestyle because of $900+ a month in loans that ACS and Sallie Mae wont reduce because our income of $60k for 2 people isn’t poor enough. We are strapped, but no one cares to help because we CHOSE education and now are going to pay for it for the rest of our lives. This doesn’t include what the interest is and will be when we are finally finished with everything. I paid my husbands way in school when he needed to be in graduate school full time+ for medical school so that we didn’t need to take out cost of living loans. We survive on little but because we were as responsible as possible in taking out the least amount of loans as possible, we are now being punished in paying them back and not finding suitable jobs to help pay for the simple necessities like a roof over our heads, food and water, but the government wants us to contribute to the economy as well?! Good thing that we have family and friends to help support our education choices even if they cannot help with supporting us monitarily. ~ Jenn W.

In 1999 at MA-Counseling Psych graduation I owed ~$15000, now owe over $16,850 due to inability to pay off loan despite monthly $160.40 payments since then! Loan interest eats up almost all of payment and loan total keeps climbing. ACS-loan management co. insists I can not pay additional $$ to pay down principle even if I could afford to! I’m 67 y.o. now and will die before loan will be paid off! No way to pay off loan (no forgiveness) despite 14 yrs of K-6 school and mental health clinic counseling services I provided before retiring @66 y.o. with cancer. US Navy vet (1963-1969). Barely scraping by on Soc-Sec to meet monthly bills. Family kids can’t help. No extra $$. I’m desperately looking for PT work just to meet monthly bills. HELP! James E. Curran Jr, Mt Pleasant, SC

In 1999 at MA-Counseling Psych graduation I owed ~$15000, now owe over $16,850 due to inability to pay off loan despite monthly $160.40 payments since then! Loan interest eats up almost all of payment and loan total keeps climbing. ACS-loan management co. insists I can not pay additional $$ to pay down principle even if I could afford to! I’m 67 y.o. now and will die before loan will be paid off! No way to pay off loan (no forgiveness) despite 14 yrs of K-6 school and mental health clinic counseling services I provided before retiring @66 y.o. with cancer. US Navy vet (1963-1969). Barely scraping by on Soc-Sec to meet monthly bills. Family kids can’t help. No extra $$. I’m desperately looking for PT work just to meet monthly bills. HELP! James E. Curran Jr, Mt Pleasant, SC