Consumer complaint received 2024-05-07
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Getting a loan — High pressure sales tactics or recruiting
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (PA)

I am writing to request that my private loans I had taken out with Navient while attending XXXX XXXX XXXX be refunded to me. 

I attended XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX for a total of just one year. I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  and lacked the understanding and guidance of enrolling in college for the first time. When I decided to go to college I was interested in the fashion marketing degree at XXXX XXXX XXXX. From my first communication with them there was a lot of pressure to apply and get enrolled and start as early as possible. They pushed for me to start in the summer session right after college and the whole acceptance felt like it took minutes to go through. Looking back now the situation reminds me of when you go to buy a car and the sales people are pressuring you to drive off that day with a brand new car. In this case it was an expensive college degree. One area I was adamant about asking is the accreditation of the school and if I decided to transfer later if my credits were transferrable. They assured me they had the highest accreditation and any other school would accept their credits. When I transferred out a year later I found out this was not the case. I transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  a year after starting at XXXX and they would not accepts any o the credits I had 'earned ' at XXXX. I knew I had made the right decision to leave after one year. 

During my enrollment process at XXXX they assisted me in their office with filling out all of the paperwork I need. This included my FAFSA and loan agreements. They asked me to sign them after they went over them without me going through myself and reviewing the documents. Later on when I had transferred I remember having to complete an educational guide on borrowing money for college which I did not go through when enrolling at Ai. In this guide it discussed subsidized and unsubsidized loans and repayment. I'm not sure if regulations had changed from XXXX to XXXX, but this may have made me stop and think and make a different decision. As I was enrolling they brought to my attention that the federal loans I would be receiving were not enough to cover the cost of the school. XXXX made it seem mandatory that we attend school year round for 4 quarters instead of two semesters like a traditional college. I learned later on that student aid only covers so much for the year and if you attend two semesters instead of year round more would be covered for that time frame. However, since they said there wasn't enough to cover tuition they said I should take out Private Loans to cover the difference and that this was common practice when people attend college. XXXX was the only college I had to take out private loans, when I transferred my student aid and federal loans was enough to cover my tuition. 

I had taken two private loans out in XXXX school term for a total of {$21000.00}, one with an interest rate of 11.25 % ( {$15000.00} disbursed on XX/XX/XXXX ) and the other 8.75 % ( {$6300.00} disbursed on XX/XX/XXXX ). Much like student loans I was not required to make payments while XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  however interest was still accruing. The total amount of interest the accrued while I was enrolled through the duration of my education was {$18000.00}. By the time I completed my XXXX XXXX XXXX  my private loans had ballooned to {$40000.00}. This is almost equal to the amount I borrowed for 4 years at a state school. 

It is clear looking back now that XXXX XXXX XXXX along with Navient took advantage of young adults who did not have experience or guidance in making these life decisions.