Student Loans
Student Loan Debt has been quite the hot topic as of late. As of 2021’s stats, there are nearly 43.2 million student borrowers who are in debt by an average of $39,451 each. You don’t even want to know where the Federal Loan Portfolio stands at the moment because it’s a shocker, to say the least. Student loan has crippled millions of fresh graduates as a result who have been grasping at straws to get out of this quicksand. It’s not like the student who’s taking the loan is at fault either. Instead, the government and other organizations have failed collectively in providing a systematic order to this student loan debacle. Although, for any help with coursework, you can refer to an academic writing service.
Anyway, let’s have a look at what the Student Loan crisis has been all about:
The gravity of the situation
Although the Federal Loan Portfolio is eclipsing over $1.56 trillion, the level of seriousness the government has adopted in this regard is absolutely baffling. The fact that there’s a game show that’s running on the TV screens of people, the basis of which is to get the loan laid off of students, just speaks volumes. It’s called Paid Off, just by the way, in case you were interested. We’ve progressed so much that we can turn a national crisis into a game show. But, you have to admit, there’s a huge potential in that. Who knows what we’d get to see on our TV screens next? A reality show of people who’re suffering from poverty? You never know; the sky’s the limit.
The guilty party
Let’s address what happens when you try to pay back your loans. Clearly, something’s amiss because college tuition has been entirely out of hands. Instead of helping students pay off the loan, the organizations that act as middlemen have become loan sharks. We’re not saying that lightly in the least. The student debt collection itself has become a multibillion-dollar industry that’s nothing less than a predatory animal feeding off the prey. You’re supposed to be helping the youth to pay off loans and become a valuable asset to society. Not earning off of them. The ridiculousness of this situation is astounding.
Mistakes are not for loan borrowers
The worst of all, when it comes to student loans, you can’t afford to make any mistakes. If you’re behind even a dollar or two, US Marshals are going to come knocking on your door to get you arrested for debt malpractice. This one guy was facing charges for $1,500 out of the blue, and he couldn’t even fathom why. Imagine having to be present in court without having anyone read your rights to you and no legal representative to defend you. Wouldn’t you feel like you’re trapped in a nightmare? Another incident took place in Florida, which involved the cancellation of thousands of licenses of healthcare workers just because they were behind on their payments for the loan. We don’t see the need where you have to call in the SWAT team for that.
Highest level of Incompetency
Once upon a time, the banks used to serve as the middlemen for providing loans to students. However, the scenario took a turn when Obama came into power. He allocated these loan dealings to the Department of Education, which eventually became the largest bank of America –in terms of loan, though. Let that sink in.
Given the fact that the Department of Education couldn’t serve as a bank, so they outsourced loan management servicers. Now, load servicers were supposed to collect the debt you’re paying back, keep you on track and explain to you your repayment options. However, they abysmally failed to do that. As a result, many students are in trifling situations because their loan servicers didn’t keep them informed, leading to the students becoming defaulters.
There were 500 complaints lodged against the national loan servicing company, one of which described the repayment structure as “financial terrorism”. With the way things are going, we can’t help but agree to a certain extent.
Navient, the prime loan shark
You’d say we’re being too hasty judging the loan servicers when they’re just trying to do their job by being helpful to the students. Hate to break it to you, but that’s far from the actual story. Let’s talk about one of the most popular servicers out there; Navient. It has been holding onto nearly $300 billion in student loans alone. The number of complaints against them has definitely skyrocketed. To say Navient has let down its clients by being absolutely inhumane would be an understatement. Their customer support service, in particular, has been class apart.
Navient’s been notoriously known for overcharging not just military personnel but even disabled people. Going as far as doubling the charges for the latter. A disabled person Michael had an amount of $2,521 deducted from his check account as well as savings account. Upon inquiring on the phone, they said that they made a mistake. Even then, the amount wasn’t refunded. It took a couple of more phone calls until they got back to their senses and returned the money.
This one guy requested Navient to lower down his monthly payments; otherwise, he’d have to live in his truck, and the telephone operator on call simply told him, “I don’t want to tell you that you have to live in your truck, but you might have to live in your truck.” Talk about top-notch professionalism.
Stuck in the past
Back in 1958, Congress passed a bill to fund higher education. It came to be known as National Defense Education Act. As a result of which by the next, there were 3.6 million students in college. Naturally, in the upcoming years, the number doubled. The entire deal of student loan programs was to facilitate students. However, with the customer behavior of servicers like Navient, student loans have become a nightmare to be paid off. If we were to play the blame game, the root of the problem has to be the Department of Education, for they keep outsourcing to awfully incompetent servicers like Navient who end up making the lives of graduate students no less than a hellhole.
A decade of service, no reward
The government, at times, has been lenient. But their leniency proves to be absolute garbage when they turn a blind eye to the atrocities being committed against students. For example, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program states that if you are in possession of a Federal Direct or Family Education Loan, you can work for 10 years at any nonprofit organization or the government and pay 120 monthly loan payments then your entire loan credit will be forgiven. A clean slate all the way. However, out of 30,000 applicants, only 96 were approved by the Department of Education. Wouldn’t you feel murderous if you worked a decade of your life away without reaping the rewards for it?
Under Trump Rule
If you thought things couldn’t get worse, you spoke too soon. Under Trump’s government, Betsy DeVos was made the secretary of education. She cut down the protection for loan borrowers and even blocked various states from regulating loan servicers. Instead of being the safeguard for students, she’s practically shoving their heads underwater.
The most bothersome issue among all this is the fact that instead of penalizing Navient, the Department of Education has sponsored them even more by providing them more business. They’re simply roaming free without any checks and misleading borrowers.
Survival Tips
If the student loan crisis is so bad, what should you do? If you’re a student, there are a few things you need to be clear about. First, don’t opt for loan forbearance just because your loan servicer said so to get it ASAP. Rather have a closer look at your situation and then proceed accordingly. Another thing you have to keep in mind is that if you feel wronged by your loan provider, get in touch with an attorney. There have been people who have been in the same boat as you, so there’s hope for you yet.
Furthermore, don’t let it consume you. We’re all in this together, and we’re going to get through this regardless of the circumstances at hand.
If you’d like to know more about Student Loans, let us know, British Coursework Help will be happy to teach you a thing or two more about it.
