Hello,
My name is Hassana and I was an international student who graduated in 2019.
I didn’t have student loans due to my ineligibility as an non citizen, however in the last year of my program my family ran into financial hardships and I had to setup up a plan with the college where they allowed me to stay enrolled for payment plans. I figured I would repay it back once I started working.
However since graduating I was unable to secure a well paying job and had to move back home, where in 2021 I finally got a job barely making $1000/month. My school being a private institution refused to work with me and sent my bill to collections where it continues to accumulate DAILY interest and is now over $43,000.
I have had medical challenges as well in the last year so a lot of my barely sufficient paycheck is going to that and I can barely make up the interest payments.
The stress on me is so much that I have almost daily panic attacks over it now.
Im not eligible for refinancing or any other loan forgiveness programs because it wasn’t technically a loan. So I don’t know if anyone has any resources or point me to anything that can even begin to alleviate my situation.
Also due to the bill being directly owed to the school I cannot get my transcripts or certificate so I can’t even go back to school on a scholarship in hopes of getting a better job.