Consumer complaint received 2017-04-17
Product: Student loan — Non-federal student loan
Issue: Can't repay my loan — Can't decrease my monthly payments
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (PA)

As a previous XXXX Student I fell prey to predatory lending practices and now owe approximately {$40000.00} in private loans alone. I understand that private loans do not fall under the federal Borrower Defense to Repayment legislation. Additionally, after doing some research it seems that I have a slim chance to receive any assistance from the state I live in toward forgiveness or restructuring my private loans and thus my private loan payments. I was lied to ; I was told I would have a job and that this job would pay for my student loans and then some. I was aggressively rushed into signing my private loan forms with little to no explanation of how private loans worked or how I would need to repay my loans. I had no idea what interests rate meant at the time, I was a young adult with no life experience from a blue-collar family that did not support college education. They knew nothing about college and so neither did I ; i.e. what it meant to go to a qualified college, how that looks on job applications, how employers and other institutions perceive your educational history. XXXX made it seem like this was my only shot and I believed them for I knew nothing else at the time. They said my education was roughly the cost of any other local college but that they were special in that they could guarantee job placement. I know now that none of this is true and I feel I was manipulated to go to a school that focused on numbers, not education. I am an adult and I understand that I must take responsibility for my decisions however, while I willingly signed up for these loans, I did so unknowingly of the faulty education and unfulfilled promises I would receive on the other end. I have been unemployed multiple times since my graduation from XXXX. Most of the jobs I have had were of lower value because I could not get a higher paying position with my education as XXXX promised. I live in fairly prestigious region for college education, but when I first moved here from another state, I was unaware. When I could n't find a decent paying job with my XXXX education, I tried to transfer my college credits to another college but found I could n't. No one had heard of the accreditation institution XXXX utilized for their credits. Due to local competition between schools I was often overlooked or passed along by potential employers. Since XXXX based their success on numbers, I easily graduated. There was no challenge to my work, all I had to do was show up, both in person and online. My teachers were often unable to teach the curriculum and or were unqualified, so everything I learned I learned on the job, at the jobs I could get who were graciously willing to overlook my education, or lack thereof. As I am only able to obtain lower paying positions that often provide little to no advancement, I 've been stuck applying for the same type of position for 10 years now. Since I am usually the low man on the totem pole, between the competition and economy over the last decade, I 'm usually the first to go when employee layoffs begin. My point is for all the money I have to pay I should indeed be in a much higher paying position. XXXX targeted people like me ; people who were uninformed, form poor to impoverished areas where college never seemed possible. They had either no or bad credit and could n't afford to go to XXXX of the more redeemable and respectable local colleges. They did not do well in high school and came from a troubled background. We were easy prey. Now that the school is closed, my degree is useless and I 'm embarrassed to say that I even have a degree. I am willing to take partial responsibility for being uninformed and nave. However, one should not need an advanced law or accounting degree to know when they are being swindled and taken advantage of. I should NOT have to pay the ridiculous amount or payments they demand when I ca n't afford to.