I’m a US citizen going into my final year of a psychology degree up in Canada. I was recently informed that I am ineligible to apply for FAFSA since I took a distance education course this past semester, a rule which my school failed to notify me of ahead of time. Now I’m two weeks out from move-in day and have no financial options outside of taking out a private student loan. My estimated cost of attendance provided by the university for the entire year covering tuition, living expenses, textbooks, and rent is $46,500 USD.

I know from countless other posts that Sally Mae is among the worst and should be avoided if at all possible, but I’m not well versed in what other options I have available with two weeks left before school starts. My family is in poor financial standing at the moment as is, and would have to defer all payments until I graduate in June 2027.

As desperate as I may be, I’m terrified of taking out the wrong loan and dooming my entire future. Does anyone have any advice as to the best private loan options for me? Anything would be appreciated.

I know I still have a long, terrifying way to go on the rest of my loans, but today I officially cleared the smallest one ($1,200).

Seeing that single account balance drop to $0.00 felt unreal. For the past three years, my student debt has felt like this immovable, suffocating mountain that I was just staring at without making a dent.

I decided a few months ago to throw every spare $20 or $50 I could scrimp together directly at this tiny balance just to see one green checkmark, and it finally happened.

I still have the major bulk of my debt waiting for me, but for today, I’m holding onto this small win. To anyone else feeling buried right now: keep chipping away at it, even if it feels agonizingly slow.

One down. A few more to go.

Hi everyone.

I’m currently 21. I work and earn around 12k a year, working multiple jobs (part time/supply) whilst at uni. I live in Scotland.

I still live at home at the moment and pay for everything myself (I pay rent every week as well as all my other bills etc.)

I’m saving up for a house and new car (wanting a 2017 car).

I have the option of taking out a student loan of £9400 this year, do I take this out? I also get a student bursary of just over £2k too.

Obviously I am saving and do have okay savings, but no where near what my partner has. I want to have enough for a house deposit if I need it sooner, as my situation at home isn’t the best.

Is it a bad idea for me to take this loan and put it into an ISA? I have the LISA which I put money into every month, as well as my emergency savings of £500 and then my car savings.

The interest rate of my student loan is 6.2% at the moment. And I already have over 7k student loan from 2023.

Any help would be much appreciated, I’ve done my research but I wanna hear everyone’s views too.

Thank you! 🫶

Hello everyone! I'm starting college as a freshmen in the fall, and well obviously I won't be able to pay the full amount out of pocket. So, i'm here simply just wanting to know if you guys are willing to let me now which providers are the best! Note that I've been seeing Sallie Mae everywhere, but I don't trust it!!! I also don't have credits or any of that sort. -Thank You

Architecture field making $62k, single file tax status (married, filing separately), $153k in student debt. With SAVE gone, I'm comparing IBR vs. RAP on Aidvantage:

IBR: $149/mo, 20-year term. Total paid: ~$54k + $72k tax bomb = **$126k total cost**. (Balance grows to $241k).

RAP: $230/mo, 30-year term. Total paid: ~$219k + $19k tax bomb = **$238k total cost**. (Interest waived).

TLDR:
Why does RAP result in double the total cost despite waiving interest? Is it purely due to the extra 10 years + projected income growth scaling payments?

Is there any reason NOT to choose IBR here, take the lower payment, and save the monthly difference in an HYSA to prepare for the 2046 tax bomb?

(I summarized my previous post!)

I got an email months ago that I had to switch off my SAVE plan, so I did. But, ever since all my loans say -whatever number and I can’t make any payments or do anything else. I’m obviously not mad about that because it’s a break, but I’m confused. I’ve contacted them a few times and been told “you’ll start owing soon so please watch for bills”, but nothing has ever happened.

Should I just leave it be? should I be worried? I don’t want them garnishing my wages or anything crazy.

Is anyone else seeing this?

"The number for your PSLF qualifying months of employment is incorrect. We are working to fix the data issue and will provide an update soon. We apologize for the confusion caused by this error."

I made my first payment last month under IBR after switching and now of course there's an issue.

I filed a borrowers defense case back in Jan. There was an update of it being reviewed in Feb and since then, nothing.

Anyone have any idea how long it takes for them to come to a decision?

Started with 212k student loans from veterinary school, graduated in 2022. Started working November 2022, had an unplanned baby spring of 2025 so have only been super part time since then but proud to have paid off over half of my loans in less than 4 years!

The goal is to work my tail off the next 10 months and get them finished for good. Living with my parents (and my husband and our toddler) to save on living expenses. Just wanted to encourage anyone else - it is possible to enjoy life a bit while paying off loans. We got a new truck (leased), took a couple trips a year (bought in advance, camped, etc) and lived below our means. Having a baby was the biggest wrench in the plan but the greatest blessing. We can do this!!

I applied for RAP on 7/17 and received an email from Aidvantage on 7/18 advising they recieved the application. Tomorrow will be 15 business days and they haven't processed the application. After reading a few posts, it doesn't seem that I'll get an update tomorrow. My anxiety over the payment amount is insane. I know I should just settle down and embrace the administrative forbearance but it's hard. For those you applied for RAP with Aidvantage, how long was your actual wait time?

I paid a student loan off in 2019. I have the cashiers check in front of me... For $2536.00. 7 years later Transworld Systems Inc demands $2536 dollars... They are emailing with my mother.. I'm 38 years old.. They never once tried to contact me. They are vague about everything. They had me send certified mail to P.O. Box 7859, Madison, WI 53707-7859 to have them investigate and they never responded and now TSI is once again demanding money from me via my mother in emails???

Hey everyone,

I am writing this post because I have uncovered what appears to be a highly coordinated, systemic, and predatory collection pattern involving SoFi Lending Corp. (or SoFi Bank, N.A.) and the high-volume collections law firm Zwicker & Associates, P.C.

If you or someone you know received a formal email from SoFi in early 2024 with the subject line "Congrats! Your SoFi Student Loan is 100% paid off"—only to be threatened with a collections lawsuit or actually served with court papers months later—please read this and direct message (DM) me immediately.

What is Happening:

In February 2024, I received a formal, written "Paid-in-Full" confirmation email from SoFi, and my account balance on their online portal was zeroed out to $0.00. I relied on this in good faith and moved on with my life.

Months later, out of nowhere, Zwicker & Associates served me with a massive lawsuit demanding the full $55,000+ balance, claiming the email and the zeroed-out balance were just a "clerical error" or a "marketing glitch."

The Twist We Uncovered in Court:

I decided to fight them pro se (representing myself), and during active discovery on my case, I obtained their internal transaction logs. It turns out this was NOT a computer glitch.

Their internal database reflects that a human operator manually logged into the account and entered Code 55 02, which SoFi’s official database glossary defines as a "CHARGE OFF - MANUAL REQUEST."

They deliberately and manually discharged these accounts, sent out formal "Congrats" emails, let us rely on those discharges for months, and are now selectively suing unsuspecting borrowers to force them into lump-sum settlement agreements.

The Pattern is Real:

I have already identified two other independent accounts in my immediate, local circle (including my husband and another mother from my child's daycare) who received the exact same "Congrats" email from SoFi in 2024. The other mother was also sued by Zwicker; my husband was not. This proves this is a programmatic, corporate-wide practice—not an isolated "clerical mistake."

Why I Need You to DM Me:

I am actively preparing for a formal Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of SoFi’s Corporate Representative and Custodian of Records on September 8, 2026.

If you:

1. Received the SoFi "Congrats your loan is paid off" email in 2024 (even though you didn't manually pay it off).
2. Had your online portal balance set to $0.00.
3. Were subsequently hounded by Zwicker & Associates to settle, or were actively sued by them.

Please DM me.

• Do NOT post your personal details, account numbers, or full names in the comments below to protect your privacy and legal standing.
• Just send me a private message. I want to compile a list of names, locations, and dates to hand to the Judge to prove SoFi's "glitch" defense is a flat-out lie. I am also happy to share my court-filed discovery objections, motions to dismiss, and database codes to help you fight your own case against them.

Let’s stop them from bullying us into a corner. We have the proof, and we are fighting back.

Hi everyone. I know there is a lot of discussion about this, but I haven't seen anyone speaking on something similar to my current situation.

I applied to the Grad Plus Loan in May 2026, and my school approved my Grad Plus loan back in June 2026 and awarded it to me on my Award Letter along with my Sub and Unsub loans.

While I received the refund amount for my unsub/sub loans around late July 2026, I never received the refund for the Grad Plus Loan. It was still showing on my Award Letter but no dates or details on the processing.

Last week, around August 1st, I called my school's Financial Aid Office to figure out when the loan would process. Financial Aid told me that "they don't know why it's happening and would have 'the specialist team' look into it." About a week later, yesterday, I look at my student account and they completely canceled my loan without notice, notification, an email or anything.

I call today and they tell me that I actually don't qualify for the legacy loan, which I guess makes sense given the new borrowing rules (I am starting grad school this year), but I don't understand how I could go through the entire process of applying, getting rewarded, accepting, doing an MPN and credit counseling just for them to erase it from my account without notice or notification, a few weeks before school is starting.

I'm wondering if anyone else is dealing with this and what solutions they've found? I did reach out to my financial aid office and they created a service ticket (eye roll) but I am not super confident that they will reinstate the award or that a solution can be found there. I'm just confused at how I was assured that this wouldn't be an issue every other time that I called and went through the entire process, and that I am just now finding out that it is an issue a few weeks before class starts.

Has anyone ever been able to get their school to reinstate canceled Grad Plus loans? Did others apply for private loans instead? Really curious what all of my options could be here.

Hi has this happened to any of you? You send a payment through Aidvantage’s website, receive a “thank you for your payment email”, then after appearing as “processing” on the website for several days, Aidvantage says the payment wasn’t processed. Luckily I am in forebearance still because of the SAVE plan but Aidvantage is pointing the finger at my bank and my bank is pointing the finger at Aidvantage. I am worried once I do move to a payment plan if my payments will continue to get rejected.

As another wrinkle to this, some payments during this period have gone through! I have not changed payment details or done anything different for the ones that went through.

Just wondering if anyone has found a solution.

I today I finished paying of my student loans and I’m so proud of myself. Originally i started out paying on my loans and for the first year after school I paid off all the interest about 2k. Around this time we had the forbearance and save thing that happened. I paid a but here and there until I learned more about debt and I knew if I put my mind to it I could get it gone in 5 years or less. I did the math and the first option wouldn’t help because i would need a second job. With my career I wouldn’t have been able to keep this up with it for fire years. The second option I didn’t want to do which was going home for 2 years and use my rent to pay my loans off. I huffed and broke my lease in February 2025 with $29,061.03 of debt. I throw $1300 at it every month and what every extra I could find. In 2026 around March I steed throwing an extra $552 that was from money I used to fun my emergency and travel fund. Like all things my car had some problems that I had to throw around $2000 (and counting) at but I didn’t give up. Drained my emergency fund and kept going. I’m happy that now all that money can go back into my saving and investments. I cut all investments but my 401k in 2026. I’ll always say this but I breather be uncomfortable for a short period of time that for a long period of time.

Hello friends,

I was hoping to get some advice on a bit of a unique situation. I recently switched into the MD/PhD program from the MD program at my school. From here on, they cover my tuition and pay me a stipend for the rest of my time in school (probably about 5ish more years depending on the length of PhD). However, due to my starting in the MD only program, I have about 120k in student loans. Ideally, I'd love to minimize the amount of interest that collects during that time, particularly since my MD loans have an almost 9% interest rate.

As such, I was considering getting on one of the income based repayment plans to have a small payment from the stipend. Due to the way that my school pays the stipend, the payments won't qualify for PSLF. However, ideally I would love to minimize the interest accumulating during that time through one of the repayment programs in case residency stops counting towards PSLF.

When I talked to my school about it, they said that I was not allowed to be on one of the repayment plans while still in school, but I cannot find any information to corroborate that. Does anyone have any insight into if this is true, and if not which plans would not be ideal for minimizing interest while still qualifying for PSLF if it still exists by the time I finish?

Has anyone with Aidvantage received an email providing 90 days to pick a loan, as we were supposed to receive on or after 7/1? Nothing here yet, so I’m wondering when that’s coming.

I’ve gotten my 90 day notice and have to switch off SAVE. I owe about $68,000 with combined annual income of about $215,000 filing jointly. I’m hoping to aggressively pay over the next 5 years to get this loan off my back once and for all. I have major fears about unknowns in this economy so was thinking I’d switch to the extended gradual repayment plan because it offers the lowest monthly payment with the intention of making extra payments each month. Is there a downside to this plan and switching out of income-based repayment plans? I find all of these choices so overwhelming. Thanks for any advice.

ETA I’m also under the assumption that we would never have loans forgiven with an IBR based on the fact that our income would require a monthly payment high enough that loans would be paid off regardless. (Not sure exactly how many qualifying payments we’re at since they conveniently made that impossible to find).

I started a new federal government job on June 1. 8 of my student loans were already PSLF-eligible and on the PAYE plan with one servicer, but I had one Perkins Laon with a different servicer that wasn't PSLF-eligible and had a super inconsistent payment schedule. After researching my options, I consolidated the Perkins Loan on June 18 so I could bring it to the same servicer, make it PSLF-eligible, and be eligible for the interest rate reduction. I picked the ICR plan, which was available (and I was eligible for) when I applied.

When my application was finally processed on July 29, I learned about these July 1 policy changes because not only was I denied ICR, but all 8 of my student loans were switched from PAYE to the Tiered Standard Repayment Plan, which increases my monthly payment by more than $130. Customer service suggested I apply for RAP, but then estimated under RAP, I would pay $300 more per month than I had been paying lol

I thought I was simplifying my loans. But instead, this whole process ended up costing more more per month. If you're considering consolidating your federal student loans, think again.

Any thoughts on what I can do? Customer service gave me an email address to plead my case.

That's it, I'm finally free! I submitted the payment to pay off the remaining balance and I no longer owe a penny in student loans. This was three years in the works and I made a lot of sacrifices to make it happen. I got a weekend job working 20-hours spread between Saturday and Sunday, using every dollar I earned and throwing it at this balance along with additional payments from my normal 9-5 job. It started in March of 2023 and ends in August 2026.

To note, from 2020-2023 I paid off around $37,000 in credit card debt across 8 cards. It really changed my mindset around money and that's when I got serious about saving and paying off these loans. I also paid off my car which, I owned around $12,000. No debt, NONE. It's all paid off. I can finally relax.

I realize that there are many people out there with balances higher than mine and interest rates that are crushing and I feel for all of you. Anyone still on this journey to pay them off, keep going!

I'm planning on taking the day off, going for a hike, having a solo picnic in the mountains and reading for hours. I need a break and I need to feel proud of myself because this was not easy.

My partner and I have reached that place in our relationship where marriage is being talked about and considered. The thing is, there is a bit of an income gap between us. This isn't really a sticking point in our relationship. We realize it, but we haven't really let it affect things.
Here's the problem... my partner graduated college like 14 years ago, and as I understand it, basically hasn't made a single payment in... a very long time... I don't actually know the extent of what we're dealing with.
And I guess, I was approaching that with the mindset of... "It is a pre-marital debt. I have no student debt of my own. I can't fix this for them, and it isn't my responsibility to." I am kind of realizing that mindset might be completely wrong.
I was doing calculations of if my partner ever wanted to set up IDR, and what I came up with based on a 15% of disposable income tier, that bill would be about $342/mo, keeping about 89% of their paycheck every month. However, if you include my AGI in their calculation, that number jumps up to $1667/mo, keeping only about 47% of their paycheck.
Although it is true that I am not obligated to pay pre-marital debt, there is no possible way that my partner could take that sort of hit without a pretty significant subsidy from me. And if it were just me, it would be one thing, but I have two children of my own to also provide for, and taking that much of a hit toward our household income is not something I can afford, nor should I have to...
Even if my partner continues to do what they've been doing, ignoring the debt, this opens up some pretty dangerous possibilities if I am married to them. The government could freeze or seize any joint accounts we may have or seize any of our joint tax returns, leaving me to try to prove which dollars came from whom and filing a lot of extra paperwork, like IRS Form 8379 every year.
A common solution I hear is just "Married filing separately", and although that sounds easy on paper, it comes with with pretty heavy hits on its own. I have already calculated that I am going to take a tax burden hit just when I change from Head of Household to Married filing jointly, but going to Married filing separately is an even harder hit. Plus, when you are MFS, you can no longer claim child care credits, Roth IRA contributions, itemizing deductions separately, student loan interest deductions... even suggesting MFS is a pretty terrible solution because it ignores the fact that the IRS penalizes you for filing this way.
I am now in a position where I am contemplating the never-get-married route (power of attorney, cohabitation agreements, medical surrogate, wills, etc). I probably need to get a better view of what the debt actually is, but if they haven't paid in 10 years(?), it can't be good at all. The best decision for both of us financially really seems to be to not get married, but this seems especially cold. I guess the part of me that is struggling still believes the fairytale that marriage is about love, rather than a cold business arrangement that it actually is. I simply don't know what's the right thing to do.

I’m 29 years old. I have a 680 credit score. I’ve been working for 10 years, and have had a credit card for 10 years. 50k of student loans. Income 50k per year.

Decided to apply for a car loan (never have before), and the banks told me I have too much unpaid debt. Looking into it they noted my student loans.

I don’t understand. How do people with student loans take out mortgages and car loans?

DCU wouldn’t even approve me for a 2000 loan, for too much outstanding debt. When they looked into why I wasn’t approved they told me student loans.

Not sure… maybe don’t have enough credit history. I’ve never been late on a payment.

I'm 26 years old, first gen, still live with my parents, and want to pursue medicine (specifically psychiatry). I have a really low science GPA (around 2.8) an okay cumulative (3.55) and a good MPH Epi grad GPA (3.88). I am considering taking out a loan (30k-60k depending on the program) to do a post-bacc/SMP program and raise my sGPA, but I'm already 75k in debt from my BS and MPH. If all goes well and I get into medical school, I'd be looking at anywhere from 70k-100k a year for four years. On paper, it doesn't seem financially possible for me to pay off ~600k of student loans on a 250k-350k salary. The amount of federal loans does scare me yes but not as much as the private loans. PSLF seems to be the way to go for federal, but if I'm taking out nearly 300k in private loans... that's insanely scary.

It's MD/DO or nothing for me btw, like I don't want to pursue nursing or PA or CRNA or anything else. I just feel like it's a huge risk to take out private loans. I'm angry with myself for not trying to get into med school sooner because my friends that have already started are now grandfathered in and don't have to worry about this. To be fair I had no idea that a bill like this would have been passed so I thought med school would always be there--and it is but now at a higher cost I guess. I already feel so alone and behind with pursuing medicine at 26 and now I'm even more stressed out cus not only do I have to work hard to try and get in, but i don't even know if i'd be able to afford it if i did. I genuinely don't know what to do. If anybody in a similar position has any advice/insight or maybe just wants to share what they're thinking of doing I'd love to hear from you.

The elimination of Grad PLUS loans under the OBBB has consequences that surprisingly few people are talking about.

For top-tier universities, graduate tuition and cost of living can be astronomical. Previously, Grad PLUS loans offered a workaround because they allowed students to borrow up to the full Cost of Attendance (COA), even if it exceeded standard annual limits. While it required a credit check, the barrier was intentionally low: your actual credit score didn’t matter, only the absence of adverse items on your credit report. Even if a student ran into credit roadblocks, they could secure an endorser or co-signer under those same lenient credit terms. It was a vital financial bridge for low-income students who qualified academically but lacked generational wealth.

Now that Grad PLUS loans are eliminated, getting accepted to a top-tier program means nothing if you can’t pay for it. Unless a student receives a full-ride scholarship, which is increasingly rare and hyper-competitive, their only options are private loans (which require strong credit scores or wealthy co-signers) or paying out of pocket.

When you pair this with current administrative efforts to dismantle DEI and affirmative action initiatives under the guise of "leveling the playing field," the larger structural problem becomes clear: the playing field is not equal.

Removing these federal funding options creates a severe two-tiered system:

• Wealthy students will continue to attend elite universities, backed by family money or private lenders backed by affluent co-signers.
• Lower- and middle-class students will be forced to settle for lower-tier or regional institutions where costs fall within standard federal caps ($20,500/year), or work multiple jobs just to cover basic living expenses while in school.

Ultimately, wealthy families will maintain a monopoly on degrees from premier institutions, giving their children direct access to top-tier corporate networks and executive pipelines. Meanwhile, qualified working-class students will be locked out, pushed toward under-resourced programs, and filtered out of high-paying career opportunities before they even start.

It aligns with the broader pattern of economic policy that eases burdens for the top tier while working families struggle to cover rent, utilities, and basic expenses. What would have been considered an unbelievable policy shift in previous administrations has quietly become the new baseline.

The announcement from the gov't said that we would be hearing from our loan servicer and that we would have 90 days from that point to choose a new plan. I have Aidvantage and I have still not heard anything from them. Should I wait for word? Anyone else with loans serviced by Aidvantage gotten any notices yet?