Consumer complaint received 2015-07-26
Product: Student loan — Non-federal student loan
Issue: Getting a loan — Can't qualify for a loan
Company: DISCOVER BANK (MA)

I am, as it stands currently, a student at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, MA ( at least until they drop my classes come XXXX XXXX ). XXXX is the number XXXX XXXX school in the country and costs close to {$60000.00} per year in tuition, fees and housing. As you can see, financial assistance is in almost every case necessary and I was n't born into a wealthy family. However over the course of my adult life I have taken steps to turn the tides on my family 's financial situation. So, with excellent credit, I had no need for a cosigner when I first borrowed money from Discover Student Loans in XX/XX/XXXX. Now, in XX/XX/XXXX, the only thing that has changed for my credit is the nearly {$80000.00} I have borrowed from Discover to pay for my first two years of school via their self-described student loan program. 

With less than 60 days before my next XXXX payment is due and after close to two years of financing me, Discover suddenly decided I am in need of a cosigner. For some students this would be a non-issue, but for me it 's a devastating conclusion. None of my friends, family or extended family have been able to get approved through Discover to be a cosigner. Not only that, but they were refused for Parent Plus loans through the university. I have utilized all of my available subsidized, un-subsidized loans and Federal XXXX XXXX options amounting to about {$8400.00} per semester ; and was depending on Discover to finance the balance, as they did in my first year-and-a-half, to cover XXXX 's tuition of approximately {$60000.00} per year. 

There should be no reason why a student with good credit history, who is only indebted by Discover Student Loans who agreed to lend them money in the first place, should be denied the funds to finish his or her education. With two years left to go for my XXXX degree and this last-minute demand for a consigner, I find myself too late for scholarship deadlines and with no financial options. Without my XXXX degree and the earning power it would provide me, it will be a struggle to even begin to repay the money already borrowed from Discover. 

I would like to see Discover Student Loans bound by 4-year degree contracts with their clients that state Discover Student Loans can not terminate financing until a degree is completed or the four years concludes, whichever comes first. Regardless of the need for a cosigner, Discover should not be able to plunge a student into debt by trying to renegotiate their contract midway through and without the promise of a degree. 

Discover has the right to change its policies but should not change things up arbitrarily and suddenly for students who are proven good customers and who they know have no other options. Imagine buying a house or a car and only getting half of the loan necessary so you ca n't actually buy the house or car but still have to pay the bank for something you never actually received. It is bad policy for a financial institution to renege on its obligation to a student halfway through the pursuit of a college education.