Consumer complaint received 2017-12-15
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (MI)

This is my experience with XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX/Navient. I have been struggling with this loan situation since XXXX. Since then, I have been harassed by Navient, XXXX XXXX, and some company named XXXX XXXX. I only have an associate certificate in electronics, yet I somehow owe over {$40000.00}. The loans keep going up in cost, even while I am paying. Last year, I had my loans down to {$32000.00}, and then I lost my job. By time I could resume payments, my loans are at {$38000.00} again. I cant keep doing this. This is complete madness, and I have a family I need to take care of. An associate certificate should never cost {$40000.00}. It shouldnt even cost half of that, and to make matters worse, the degree is useless. Nobody in the professional world will acknowledge an XXXX XXXX XXXX certificate as being legitimate proof of education. For instance, I am a XXXX XXXX, and not an electrical anything. I can not get a job in electronics. With XXXX, you pay for a degree and you get it, so long as you show up. The degree you pay for is completely useless. 
I would like to talk about my performance in school, and the reason for attending. I graduated with highest honors, and perfect attendance. I graduated with a XXXX G.P.A. It turns out, that this means nothing, but I took this very seriously as I had XXXX kids, and no job to take care of them. Like many others, I felt that an education would be our best bet during the economic recession, as I lost my automotive manufacturing job due to outsourcing. Paying it back would be no problem, because I would have a great job, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, I fell for the advertising hype. It was a perfect scam with a complicit government agency. Its hard to admit you were taken advantage of and then ripped off, but that is exactly what happened to me. 
Now, I would like to talk about XXXX XXXX XXXX. While I was attending, between XXXX and XXXX, we had no less than XXXX deans, and no less than XXXX program chairs ( a program chair is the person who runs the program, be it XXXX, XXXX XXXX, etc. ), and hardly any of my instructors were there for a whole semester. I knew something was not right at this point, but I thought that I would be okay, because my loans were through the Department of Education. The DoE is supposed to make sure you get the proper education, and regulate the schools providing the education, right? Wrong again! Was that ever a mistake. Thinking back, I should have cut my losses there and dropped out, but I thought I should just get the certificate. You see, they start you with a bunch of fluff classes like, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. After a couple semesters of fluff, you are already in debt up to your waist, and it only makes sense to keep going, as these fluff classes do not transfer. 
One of the more serious issues I have with XXXX XXXX XXXX, is the fact that they didnt teach anything. For instance, while in my digital electronics class, we learned nothing. About one week before our final exam, our instructor told us to get ready to write something down. After a moment or two, he started rattling off seemingly random letters. It turns out that we were transcribing our final exam answers. He gave us the answers to our final exam, a week before our final exam! If it isnt clear, all our tests and exams were multiple-choice. They even encouraged us to use methods of deduction to pass these multiple-choice tests. This is not conducive to the learning process. I feel that this alone, is enough to invoke a XXXX XXXX claim that XXXX did not provide the services they advertised. 
While in my college mathematics class, I noticed that most people could not grasp the concept of algebra. The instructor started giving people bad grades for doing bad work. Well, the first electronics chair reprimanded the math instructor for failing underperforming students. How is anyone supposed to learn under these circumstances? So, I graduated next to people who shouldnt have passed. This minimalizes my efforts, and the value of the education in general. Yet, I must pay premium prices for an absolute sham of an education? 
I believe XXXX XXXX XXXX was dishonest, and did not provide the services they promised. I was charged an inflated amount for my books, but they were custom editions of real college books, meaning they were about a quarter of the size. These custom editions can not be resold to other students, or any school book stores. They do not meet the requirements of real college books, and you are forced to buy XXXX books. You can not decline the books and use any others. You MUST purchase ITTs custom editions, as it is all rolled into tuition. I was even forced to pay for a {$500.00} tool kit that I didnt really use. Once again, these books are not acceptable at any other college. I feel that their dishonesty is enough to invoke a XXXX XXXX claim, and the federal government obviously felt the same way, when they sanctioned them into closing. Thats great, but it does nothing for the people currently affected by this scam. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX was labelled as a hands-on, kinesthetic learning center, but none of the lab equipment even worked properly. We had multiple instances where we had to cut our labs short because of faulty equipment. We were supposed to be able to work at our own lab stations, but it would be a miracle if even half of the oscilloscopes worked. You need to be able to do the labs alone, but the poor condition of the labs made it difficult. 
Another of the supposed, primary benefits of XXXX XXXX XXXX was supposed to be the job placement program. Do you know what that program was? It was a printed off list of XXXX and XXXX job searches, placed in a tray on a weekly basis. This is not a placement program, Its a scam. They did not provide the materials and benefits they promised. Once again, I feel that this alone should be enough to invoke a XXXX XXXX claim that XXXX did not provide the services they advertised. 
Once I graduated in XXXX, the only job I could find was an electronics repair technician, that paid {$8.00} per hour. When I went to the interview, it was a group interview with XXXX to 10 people, including myself. We were all sitting around a table and everyone was answering the same questions, except me. I was singled out for being an XXXX graduate. This man was extremely condescending after hearing I attended XXXX. This was really humiliating, even though I successfully answered the questions he asked me. You need to pay special attention to this, because I was singled out, but people that had no degree or certificate, were not singled out. This is what an XXXX certificate/degree looks like to the professional world, a joke. They did not provide the education they promised. Once again, I feel that this is enough to invoke a XXXX XXXX claim. 
Interesting enough, I learned of the XXXX XXXX closure from an engineer I was interviewing with last year. He told me the school closed, and then chuckled about it and told me that I should get my money back. He said it is a worthless school, and my certificate has no value. This was for an electronics job, that I did not get. Big surprise there. 
So, there I was, making {$8.00} per hour, with XXXX kids, and nothing else to my name. I was borrowing a vehicle from my grandparents, while living under their ( meager ) roof with my kids. Its also worth mentioning, that I have never used government or state benefits. I never had help raising XXXX kids with $ XXXX per hour. While I am dealing with this stress, I have XXXX XXXX representatives calling me non-stop, and threatening me with collections. Im sorry, but I can not afford to pay student loans over feeding and clothing my kids, with an {$8.00} an hour job. I tried explaining this to the associate on the phone, but they were very rude, and told me that I will never have credit again. This was in XXXX, and here I am in XXXX, with no usable credit due to XXXX XXXX/Navient. This harassment is unacceptable. I have NEVER missed my rent payment, car payment, bill payment, or any other payment, yet I can not get a loan for {$400.00} right now. XXXX XXXX dollars, but people with multiple bankruptcies can buy houses? I am worse off than someone with bankruptcies? Really? Is this what the DoE does? Loans money to pay a crooked school, just to ruin my life? Nice. 
Later in the year XXXX XXXX XXXX, I finally start a new job that pays decent. I had to travel away from my kids for 30 to 90 days at a time, while working up to 100 hours per week. I was making {$14.00} per hour, but had tons of hours. You may not believe me, but I have the pay stubs to prove it. During my first 30-day rotation, I had no money, and somehow had to feed myself while travelling for work. XXXX XXXX calls and starts threatening again. This time, the guy tells me that he will put my loans into collection if I dont pay him {$2000.00} immediately. Needless to say, I didnt have anything close to {$2000.00} available. Never once did this guy offer any type of option other than pay {$2000.00} on the spot. I simply couldnt pay, so now I have this XXXX XXXX XXXX harassing me, yet the loans they supposedly have, are still on Navients list, AND I AM PAYING ON THEM! This borrower is dishonest, subversive, and completely ignorant to the realities of life. Rarely did I ever get someone on the phone that I could understand. The only time an English-speaking person helped me, was when they were threatening me. They are supposed to offer ways to keep up on loans, but they didnt. They simply ruined my credit after harassing me. The loan servicer did not offer any other options, and made a decision that permanently ruined my life. If anything, this should be enough. 
In the end, my credit is ruined, my degree is worthless, Im completely stressed out, my loans are more than they were, even after all the money I have paid. Im just done with it. There is no reason to pay this much for any associate certificate, let alone a certificate from XXXX XXXX XXXX. This degree is a joke, and I am usually too embarrassed to even tell anyone I attended XXXX XXXX XXXX. They claimed to offer an accredited degree, but that was a lie. Once again, I feel that this is enough to invoke a XXXX XXXX claim. 
It just takes a quick search of the web for information on XXXX. There is literally no benefit to having an XXXX education. It looks bad, and it is an embarrassment. I dont see how I should have to continue to pay for it. In fact, I should be refunded all the monies paid to XXXX XXXX/Navient, plus I should be reimbursed for the time wasted and stress I had/must deal with. Now, I read the South Dakota is buying residents school debt, and then terrorizing them by taking their drivers licenses away unless they pay immediately. I can not let this continue, if that is going to start happening. The federal government is supposed to be protecting citizens from this kind of madness. I would like to attend XXXX XXXX XXXX, but I can not handle all of this financial stress while taking care of my kids, working, and trying to earn a Technologist degree. 
If you just skimmed through the letter, you need to at least read this sentence carefully. My degree makes me less marketable than I would have been otherwise. They ( XXXX XXXX did not provide the education they promised, and the borrower ( XXXX XXXX/Navient ) lied, and did not offer any other options, and completely ruined my credit, and negatively impacted my future, as well as the last 7 or 8 years. They also caused years of undue stress. Once again, I feel that this is enough to invoke a XXXX XXXX claim. My family and I can no longer take this. Please do something about this mess, because I cant deal with it anymore. I need to sleep at some point.