Stacy Cowley

Yes. At exactly the moment when you would ideally want to be staffing up and putting more resources into the system to help people navigate this return to repayment, we've instead done the opposite.

Yes. At exactly the moment when you would ideally want to be staffing up and putting more resources into the system to help people navigate this return to repayment, we've instead done the opposite.

It's a real struggle for a lot of people.

It's a real struggle for a lot of people.

I spoke to a health care worker down in Florida who's been trying to get enrolled in the income-driven repayment.

I spoke to a health care worker down in Florida who's been trying to get enrolled in the income-driven repayment.

To prepare for that student loan payment, but again... She did the math on the government's own calculator and worked out that her payments would be about $490 a month. She said that would be a stretch, but she could make that work. Then I get a bill in January that was for like...

To prepare for that student loan payment, but again... She did the math on the government's own calculator and worked out that her payments would be about $490 a month. She said that would be a stretch, but she could make that work. Then I get a bill in January that was for like...

However, when she got her first bill, she found that something had gone awry and she was getting a bill for the standard payment amount.

However, when she got her first bill, she found that something had gone awry and she was getting a bill for the standard payment amount.

So she's been calling her servicer and spending hours and hours on hold, multiple days for the last few weeks, trying to get this fixed. You know, their systems are all messed up. To know what's actually going on behind the scenes, it's almost like you're guessing what... And it just keeps going awry at every turn. She got a revised bill. This one was for $1,000.

So she's been calling her servicer and spending hours and hours on hold, multiple days for the last few weeks, trying to get this fixed. You know, their systems are all messed up. To know what's actually going on behind the scenes, it's almost like you're guessing what... And it just keeps going awry at every turn. She got a revised bill. This one was for $1,000.

She really has not been able to figure out what the problem here is. And of course, the interest rate is ridiculous. It's suffocating. And that's a really frequent story. I've talked to dozens of people trying to sort this out. It's an albatross around my neck. I want it off. I literally lose sleep over this. I have nightmares about this.

She really has not been able to figure out what the problem here is. And of course, the interest rate is ridiculous. It's suffocating. And that's a really frequent story. I've talked to dozens of people trying to sort this out. It's an albatross around my neck. I want it off. I literally lose sleep over this. I have nightmares about this.

People got really used to not having that payment. And now with this payment kind of crashing back into their lives, people are trying to make it happen. They know it's a debt they borrowed and one that they have to repay. And they're running into challenges. So I called the Department of Education and waited on hold for hours.

People got really used to not having that payment. And now with this payment kind of crashing back into their lives, people are trying to make it happen. They know it's a debt they borrowed and one that they have to repay. And they're running into challenges. So I called the Department of Education and waited on hold for hours.

Trying to figure out how they can reintegrate this payment into their lives. And I'm going, wait a second. I can't make those payments.

Trying to figure out how they can reintegrate this payment into their lives. And I'm going, wait a second. I can't make those payments.

They're very strange loans. There is no other consumer loan that you take out where you don't know when you take it exactly what the payment terms and options are going to be.

They're very strange loans. There is no other consumer loan that you take out where you don't know when you take it exactly what the payment terms and options are going to be.