I am a single parent, with very little income. I wanted my son to have a better future than I could offer. My son was influenced by the constant ads on TV from ITT Technical School offering a bright future, so he signed up with them.
ITT Tech failed to explain the actual costs, differences between types of loans-subsidized, unsubsidized, private vs federal, etc. They actually gave my son Private loans - 15% to 16%, before federal subsidized loans, which accrued interest for over 4 years (2 Associate Degrees which have been worthless to my son)- during which time he was still in school. Not realizing this, my son's loans doubled over this time - by the time he graduated. Sallie Mae was the only lender offered by ITT Tech. -which we believed was a federal program. It was not.
The rates & fees from this lender were unbelieveably high. My son was charged very high rates for everything, which made his loan grow even more. I don't even know how he was EVER approved for these loans (which have now grown to approximately $75,000 & growing). He is unemployed & I make a low income. I was not able to co-sign these loans. He would have been a very high risk loan. We thought the ITT Tech loan officers were looking out for my son's best interests, but obviously, by giving a private loan first over a federal loan, we were wrong. Why would they do this???
ITT Tech gave us a financial history of my son's loans (15 different loans - which we thought was one loan until graduation), which was all in code, so no one would be able to calculate unless you worked there. I asked for one I could understand & eventually, after 3 requests, I got something understandable. I found that they did not apply some grants, they charged my son for more classes than he took. They even charged $800 for an advance notice withdrawal request from a class he never even went to at all. One whole year, they did not give any federal loans. Just Private loans with Sallie Mae at high interest rates. They actually had my son sign loan papers while he was in line at graduation!
My son will be in debtors prison forever. ITT Technical Institute has destroyed my son's dreams for any future. There are so many more details, but I cannot express them all in one article. We do need legal help, but that costs a lot of money. I did contact several of our politicians, who are aware of the student loan predatory lending practices. They are in favor of ending this & will vote accordingly, including restoring Consumer Protections for Student Loans.
We were very disappointed with ITT classes & teachers (no teaching degrees). Credits can not be transferred to most other colleges, so you are stuck at ITT campus's if you want their credits to count.
ITT Technical School does not seem to care about my son's financial problems. If anyone can give advice or help on this matter, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
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