So I have unpaid tuition and a perkins loan, each with a different collection agency currently, and then my federal loan. I want to go back to school this fall, but transcript is being held hostage. It would take me years to pay off the unpaid tuition, I don’t want to wait years. So I was wondering if I consolidated all my debt with one agency, would the university I went to consider the tuition paid? And the school I want to go to this fall is not the same one.
The university is waiting for its money. Your unpaid tuition bill really doesn’t have anything to do with your loan servicer, or loan consolidation.
You owe money to the college. They are not “holding your transcript hostage”. You have a financial obligation to them that you have not fulfilled.
And it sounds like you defaulted on your federal loan repayment.
How much money are we talking here? $10,000 or $50,000?
Contact the school where you owe money…and work out a payment plan for the unpaid tuition.
Contact your loan Servicer, and figure out how to start paying this loan, since it sounds like you have defaulted.
That is the only way to get your transcript released.
I’m not sure consolidating your unpaid tuition with one collection agency and your student loan debt with the student loan servicing agency would even help even if both were held by the same agency. Your unpaid tuition isn’t a “loan” and repayment can’t be deferred the way student loan payments are even if you’re attending school somewhere else.
Realistically, you have to do what thumper1 recommends. You don’t have to completely pay off your student loan debt but you do have to take care of your unpaid tuition, if not in full then at least with a payment plan set up. If you become a student again your student loans may go into deferral depending on what specifically has been going on.
I’m not sure what happens regarding student loans where the student has already defaulted.
That’s a good point. I didn’t realize that he defaulted on both; I thought he was referring to the student loan servicer (Nelnet or whoever it is) as the ‘collection agency’. That could pose even more of a complication.
There are two separate issues here.
First issue is the defaulted loan. It’s a Perkins, so it is actually serviced through the school, and it sounds like this loan has been turned over to a collections agency. Since you have other federal loans, you can consolidate the Perkins and all of your other loans together. If your Perkins is not yet defaulted, you may be eligible for aid, but if you don’t resolve the Perkins issue prior to default, you will lose aid eligibility. Your outstanding balance on the Perkins has probably ballooned … it’s amazing how high the balance gets once the loan goes to collections … but you need to take care of it. You are not currently eligible for federal aid if you have a defaulted Perkins and/or defaulted Stafford loans.
Are you behind in repaying your federal Stafford loan, or are you in default? If you are behind, call your servicer. Ask about consolidating your Perkins and Stafford & getting into an income driven repayment plan. If you are not currently earning a lot, your payment will be low … it’s based on your earnings, not the amount owed. If you are in default, contact your servicer, who will explain your options.
The other issue is the balance you owe the school. You will have to pay the school before they will release your transcript.