Consumer complaint received 2016-09-22
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: CT
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Can't repay my loan
Sub-issue: Can't decrease my monthly payments

Complaint:
1. Lack of student loan education prior to enrolling in college 2. having no choice but to borrow a Parent Plus Loan High Schools in the U.S. do not touch on student loans, how they work, how they accrue, or what the pay back will entail. Instead, my High School counselors were told to push out of state schools on students in order to make the High School seem well rounded. 
Due to graduating HS with no credit, and therefore needing to take Parent Plus Loans for college, I ( in part with my father ) needed to finance my simple 4 year education through Navient ( formerly XXXX XXXX ), and XXXX. I am from CT, but chose my # 1 school as the University XXXX. My 4 year XXXX degree ( graduated XXXX XX/XX/2012 ) gave me a bill of {$180000.00}. Since these are parent plus loans, there is no forgiveness, and the minimum monthly payment option is $ XXXX/per month for Navient, and {$380.00} for XXXX. I was able ( and lucky enough ) to get a job out of college, and decided to defer my larger loan with Navient in order to focus on the XXXX loan. Doing this, I was able to fully pay off in 1 1/2 years the {$30000.00} " smaller '' loan XXXX XXXX. Now I am at {$160000.00} left for my Navient Loan. I have exhausted all forbearance / deferment options, and have no choice but to make minimum interest payments ( on a graduated plan ) starting at {$1000.00} / month for the next 30 years. In additon, I have been painfully unsuccessful in finding any programs, third parties, or other private institutions willing to buy out and re-finance a loan of this size. I can not even find any that will take it over and put it fully in my name! This is increasingly becoming a problem since I am the oldest of XXXX children, with XXXX younger ones in college now who also need parent plus loans. 

This is by far the most hardship I have ever faced in my life. No matter how well I do within my career, it seems I will never be able to escape my student loan debt. This is holding me back from living my life. I can not move out on my own, apply for a mortgage, car, or even sharing a life and marriage with someone. Having a student loan this immense makes life feel doomed. 

Why do none of the loan forgiveness programs apply to Parent Plus Loans? Why does the " credit '' associated with making on-time direct deposit payments only become accredited to my father when I am the one making payments every month? Why am I not allowed to call up the loan company and they can only do business with my father even though this loan is partially under my name and I am the one it was used for, and also the one trying to pay it back? How is the national average for a 4 year degree {$30000.00}, and my loan is more than 5 times that?! 

I have tried multiple times to contact my lender and seek alternative options, financing, repayment, programs, etc., however it seems that there is nothing further, that my father or I can do, other than continue to make minimum payments until I am at " retirement age. '' If I had any idea in high school how much a 4 year degree to an average public university would cost me in the long run, I would have gone to trade school. It is very difficult to foresee a brighter future when you know that the homeless in the city, who ask you for money, have a higher net worth than you do. I would take a positive {$3.00} to my name over a negative {$160000.00} any day.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation