“Dear Steve,
I recently graduated from Mass College of Pharmacy with a Doctorate of Pharmacy and a butt load of student debt. I owe Sallie Mae around 157,000 and the federal government 87,000. My monthly payments are 3.000 a month which is more then half of what I make.
I can’t find a company that is willing to consolidate my loans from Sallie Mae.. With some of the interest rates being 10 and 13 percent and of course Sallie Mae refuses to make my monthly payment any less then what it is. I’ve contacted numerous agencies trying to get consolidated and have had to significantly cut back on monthly utilities, gas, food, etc just to skim by and pay my loan payment.
My question is how can I possibly get Sallie Mae to reduce my monthly loan payment so that it is affordable? What agencies, in this economy, are taking on loan consolidations for students? What can I do to survive through this debt disaster. It’s not that I don’t think I shouldn’t have to pay any money back, but I didn’t work hard for 6 years to attain a doctorate and live off ramen noodles!
Laura”
Dear Laura,
You can’t. Welcome to the world of private student loans, otherwise known as the education trap.
The only good options are for government backed loans. Maybe consolidating those will provide you some relief. Click here.
You said, “I didn’t work hard for 6 years to attain a doctorate and live off ramen noodles!” but the unfortunate reality about student loans today is, you did. Student loan debt now exceeds all credit card debt in America. It’s an exploding problem and one that was created by bankruptcy reform in 2005 that disallowed private student loans from being discharged in bankruptcy.
When it comes to the Sallie Mae loans you only have two choices, a plan Sallie Mae offers, or consolidating with another private student loan company which will leave you in just about the same situation. Private student loan debt in America is a financial pandemic.
Banks like Wells Fargo and SunTrust offer some consolidation program.
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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