Product: Student loan

XXXX Acct : XXXX XXXX XXXX I went to an authorized foreign medical school ( XXXX XXXX de XXXX ) and was directed to use XXXX XXXX ( now XXXX  ) for my loans. I was told I could only use XXXX XXXX and it was the only paperwork provided to me. During my education, I was directed to different types of private loans and was never fully counseled on their types and percentages ; only I had to sign promissory notes ( with a co-signer ) that I would pay and when payments would begin. After medical school, I did not get an MD residency ( I passed all my tests, etc., but I just didn't get it due to to many medical students and not enough residency positions ), so I transitioned to public health. I started my public health service in XXXX, and it wasn't until XXXX that XXXX informed me about the XXXX program as an option. It was then I transferred to XXXX ( Now XXXX also I was granted XXXX forgiveness in XX/XX/XXXX ). Because of the late transfer, I missed several monthly payments that weren't counted for XXXX, and it delayed my XXXX for 1 year.Also, aAs my federal student loans were more, I focused on them with XXXX. For my private student loans, whatever income I had outside XXXX 's narrow criteria ( home, gas, car, utilities, food ), went to my private student loans based on my income. When I couldn't make a payment, they would put me into deferment, paying the missed payments in higher percentages. I also never consolidated because I would lose any original protections for income-based repayments. missed it because of the birth of my children ( XXXX during XXXX ), an a/c unit going out, food/childcare, and the car being stolen. On average, I paid between {$XXXX and {$XXXX} a month for my private loans. My original private student loans were $ XXXX, and after 12 years ( 2 years in deferment for my XXXX XXXX XXXX ), I owed {$XXXX}. So I paid $ XXXX over the 10 years and owed {$XXXX  more. After the XXXX XXXXwsuit, I spoke with XXXX, and they said I did not qualify because I had never defaulted. Because I did the right thing and made payments, I was penalized. I contacted my XXXX senate & congress representatives and XXXX XXXXttorney General, and all said there was nothing they could do, and they couldn't comment on litigation or the XXXX lawsuit. So, in XXXX, I stopped paying because, by XXXX  's criteria, defaulting was the correct financial method. For the next 5 months, XXXX  called, emailed, and faxed everyone from an ex-bother-in-law to my new employer. Only because of my mother ( co-signer ) did I finally re-engage with XXXX. They offered to negotiate a settlement, which after weeks of back and forth, came to {$XXXX0} ( a total of {$XXXX to the $ XXXX I had already paid ). In order to find that money, I pulled out my XXXX retirement, which was an inheritance from my grandmother, paid the federal penalties and taxes, and emptied my emergency XXXX savings that had taken me 10 years to accumulate. I settled with XXXX  ( loans show balance of {$XXXX} and that they have been consolidated ) and have been living paycheck to paycheck, making significant sacrifices for my family just to not live under a private student loan debt that had no end for me based on my public health career salary. Through the years, the private student loan crippled me for any financial progress, from being able to mortgage a house or start a small business.