Consumer complaint received 06-07-2017 about Student loan (Federal student loan servicing) with Navient Solutions, LLC. (IA).
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Problem lowering your monthly payments

Complaint: I began attending   XXXX   in  XXXX . I was " recruited '' as a veteran and steered into the   XXXX   XXXX   field. It was very easy ( with their assistance ) to obtain a large amount of government funded loans, not to mention I qualified for a partial GI Bill for additional assistance. I completed my  XXXX  degree program ( completely online ) and was unable to obtain a career in my chosen field even though I was convinced by   XXXX   recruiters that this was a field that was in high demand of qualified applicants. By this time, my GI Bill was almost used up, and I had an insane amount of student loan debt. Out of desperation for deferment, and with much encouragement from   XXXX   counselors I chose to pursue my   XXXX    degree. In this program, there is minimal direction from any sort of professor. The ploy is to set up students in learning groups and require an exasperating amount of papers and projects with little to no direction/teaching/instruction. As a single mother, I was unable to maintain a full time job and keep up with the demands of the   XXXX    program ( especially as I had yet to see any return for the hard work I had already put in ). I was consistently unable to find a career in the   XXXX   XXXX   whatsoever, let alone one that would support my family. I requested time after time for my loans to be deferred while I was requesting a repayment plan. I was under the impression this had taken place, and only after my credit was severely damaged did I realize my deferment had ended/been denied. I was not notified that  XXXX /  XXXX   XXXX  /  XXXX   XXXX  /Navient was negatively reporting for me. Additionally,  XXXX  began collection activity for a class that I did not start and certainly did not complete. The late reporting and collection account are still impacting my credit to this day. I was eventually able to complete an income based repayment plan which I am in my second year of now. I currently have  13  outstanding loans  ( both subsidize d and unsubsidized ). My monthly payment ranges between {$230.00} and {$250.00}, and my outstanding balance is {$88000.00} ( not counting the collection account of approximate {$2500.00} ) for a   XXXX   degree and half of a  XXXX  degree that were sold to me and are completely useless. Ive had to go back to the   XXXX   XXXX   ( where my experience is ) simply to make ends meet. The interest rates on my loans are 3.4 %, 4.5 %, 5.41 %, 5.6 %, 6.0 %, and the rest are at 6.8 %. I do not know why they are different. Most of these are not scheduled to be paid off until  XXXX  and thats only if I am able to eventually pay the full payment amount ( without IBRP ) which will never happen. Since  XX/XX/XXXX , Ive paid a total of {$1600.00}, and {$20.00} of that has been applied to the principal balance. At this rate I will be paying these loans for the rest of my life ( with nothing to show for all the money and hard work ). This is a black hole trap that I wish I never would have started. I would have the same job making the same amount of money without the credit destruction and lifetime monthly payment that takes away from my children and the betterment of their future. I feel I was a victim of empty promises like many veterans newly out of the military are.
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In addition to my own experience, I know there have been several lawsuits and settlements in relation to the bad practices of  XXXX /  XXXX   XXXX  /Navient etc. This only goes to show that this was a regular practice for this company to prey on those who were willing to take a chance to improve their future.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation