I am a former employee of the student loan industry

I worked in the student loan industry for a couple of years. I ran into this sub and want to share a few tidbits. I’ll just call it what it is because I don’t work there anymore: the student loan industry is a shitshow.<br><br>I worked for the company that presents itself as the US government in all of your student loan interactions if you went to school before Obama. If you took out loans after Obama, the government services those loans itself.<br><br>First off, **I hate the fact that the US government is making money off student loans.** To be clear, when you send in your loan repayment, you are putting money in the US government’s pocket. They have been doing this since day one, and it’s fucking bullshit. The government should not be allowed to make money off student loans. It’s the worst thing that the government does on a day to day basis.<br><br>Second, **the government will never allow interest rates to change in your favor.** They simply won’t. Interest rates have gone down dramatically in the last decade, but the interest rates on your student loans stay the same. There was legislation to change that, but it’s never, ever going to happen. If they ever do change it, it’ll be to some crap like prime + 2% or something like that, which will still be high. You’re beholden to the rates you have for life. Figure out a way to make your peace with it.<br><br>Third, **consolidation loans don’t exist.** Unless you do it through the government’s website, it’s just a refinance with some other company. Companies that “consolidate your loans” are not doing it through the government’s process to actually consolidate loans. It’s most likely a scam. Don’t do it.<br><br>Fourth, **if you default on your loans, you can rehabilitate them once.** Making payments on defaulted loans for six months straight, with the first being on time, will completely remove the defaulted status from your credit. Once you pay the loans back, you also get any tax refund you would have gotten back. But don’t think you can just default, rehabilitate, and then do it again. The company will dwindle your payments to $5 or $10 if need be to avoid default. They will call you and mail you papers so often you will lose your fucking mind. Do whatever you have to do to avoid default. You cannot live with yourself when your phone, email, and mailbox are all being bombed with communications from the loan people.<br><br>There are so many goddamn loans that, when I was there, we hadn’t had anyone make a payment in 7+ years. People die with student loans. They’re that bad.<br><br>Fifth, **the government takes your refund and your paycheck.** If you default and you don’t rehabilitate your loans, the US government will legally take your tax refund every year and your employer will take money out of your check (they call this a wage garnishment). They will, without fail, take your tax refund every year until you die, pay off your loans, or rehabilitate. You don’t have a choice in the matter.<br><br>Sixth, **the IRS is in on it, and they will always, always side with the US government.** They will take every dollar first and then legally take your paycheck. They will never, ever side with you. They will, however, give you all of your tax refund money back once you pay back your loans, but I have no idea how long that takes. I was told it was a several year process.<br><br>Seventh, **loan forgiveness exists, but it’s a joke.** There are three kinds of loan forgiveness: public service, teacher, and income driven repayment. The first two require that you work for a specific employer for a specific period of time and a specific percentage of your loans will be forgiven. The second is where you pay based on your income, and after 20 or 25 years, your loans are fully forgiven. If I had a dollar for every time I heard “I thought my loans would be forgiven after 10 years” I’d have retired already. It's more like 30-40 years. Most people will die with student loans because they are so high.<br><br>Lastly, and most importantly, **the government doesn’t care about your student loans.** No one cares about your student loans. No one will ever care about your fucking student loans. I fucking hate the fact that the government doesn’t care about student loans. I hate the fact that no one will ever do anything about it.<br><br>The worst part is, I’m just a guy who used to work in the industry. I’m not a splice or a shill. I’ve never posted anything in this sub before. This is the truth that I lived for two years. This is my experience. This is what happens when you graduate college and can’t find a job with your bachleor's degree that pays more than $30k.<br><br>Student loans are a complete, utter, and total shitshow. It’s fucking bullshit. Don’t bother doing anything about it because they don’t care.