AES/PHEAA Student Loan Complaint

AES/PHEAA Student loan department,

Non-federal student loan Dealing with my lender or servicer Trouble with how payments are handled Pennsylvania

I have a student loan from -/-/- ( from 20 years ago ) and have paid many - of dollars towards it. This past year alone, I paid nearly $4000.00. Last year I paid over $5000.00. The servicer is American Education Services. The principal balance is almost exactly the same since it was originally issued. This means that all that I have paid ( $ - ) has gone towards interest and not the principal balance. The interest rate is quite high, 7.625 %, and with a large principal balance ( $ - ), the monthly payments are high and I have done my best to pay them every month. However, sometimes I might miss a payment, or need to go on forbearance for a while ( after losing a job, etc ). This has resulted in any headway I made to be lost ... I have another student loan with a different servicer ( Navient ) that is from -/-/-. The interest rate is much lower. The principal balance is about half of the original amount now, after 10 years of making payments. It was easier to keep up with those payments because of the lower interest rate ( 2.5 % ) and smaller principal balance ( $ - ). In summary, I do n't think students should have to pay such high interest rates. In cases like mine, it can make it nearly IMPOSSIBLE to pay off the principal balance. Also, I do n't think in times of financial hardship, the interest rate should be allowed to accrue. Hopefully student loans can adopt these ideas in the future so other students wo n't have to suffer like me. Thanks, - -. I love - -!