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Who did you borrow from? Most loans are qualified education loans IF they are only used to fund education. Examples of non-qualified education loans are credit cards, personal loans with other uses, etc.

Technically, any private loan that was only used to fund education is considered a qualified education loan.

Finally, even qualified education loans can be discharged in bankruptcy. It's just rare because you have to pass the Brunner Test for undue hardship. See this: Bankruptcy and Student Loan Debt.

Please don't pull your retirement assets. I've personally never seen that work well for anyone.

Oh man... that breaks my heart you're eligible for PSLF. Your FFEL loans don't qualify for PSLF, and you could have had your debt forgiven already (based on it being more than 10 years since PSLF existed)...

With that said, if you want to go for PSLF, you must consolidate. You need Direct Loans.

Also, if any forgiveness program does come to pass (it likely won't, but hey, we can hope), it also will likely only apply to Direct Loans.

Well, remember, you owe the debt to the US Taxpayer. Navient is just a servicer. The technical way Navient (and all loan servicers get paid) is roughly $2 per loan per month. That's it. They don't get paid your interest or anything.

With that being said, you can re-consolidate your loans today. They'll become Direct Consolidate Loans. They'll be eligible for the current Covid-19 pause. They'll also become eligible for programs like PSLF.

However, based on your repayment plan, you could be on the road to loan forgiveness already (plans like IBR include loan forgiveness after 25 years). When you consolidate, you're taking out a new loan. Any past history goes away, so any payments you made prior no longer count.

There are trade-offs with both, and the choice is personal based on your situation, income, etc.

You want to get your "MyAid" file at StudentAid.gov. This will break down exactly what loans you have, by loan type, date, etc.

It sounds like you have an old consolidated FFEL Loan. These loans don't qualify for any programs under the Covid-19 assistance.

Furthermore, chances are that future legislation will continue to not cover them. Depending on how much you have left on your loans, and how much time you have left, you might consider re-consolidating into a Direct Loan, which will open you up to the current Covid-19 pause, as well as new loan forgiveness options (like PSLF).

I can't tell you what you did. I can't tell you the paperwork you filed. Only you can know and have records of it. You can also pull your MyAid file on StudentAid.gov and see your loan records to check.

Since both your loans are at Navient, regardless of consolidation, you're likely being billed one amount anyway.

I'm not quite sure what you see is the scam. Your current balance and monthly payment all have to do with your payment history, repayment plan, and more.

What payment plan are you currently on? Have you ever missed payments or gone into default? All of these play a factor in your loan balance.

I'm not sure I understand. You can consolidate your loans together, or you can consolidate each loan individually, but you can never consolidate your Parent PLUS Loans into your children's loans.

Remember, Parent PLUS Loans are legally your responsibility 100%. While you may have a verbal (or even written agreement) with your children, they are still your loans.

Some private lenders allow you to refinance a Parent PLUS Loan into the child's name, but the child has to agree to it and do the application (and of course, qualify on their own without you). However, there are big drawbacks to private loans.

See this on Parent PLUS Loans.

You might want to read our guide to Student Loan Consolidation.

The CARES Act paused all collection activity, so you may have received a break there. You shouldn't have been charged this month. You should contact your collection agency and see what's going on.

If you have Federal loans, there's no statute of limitations. They will follow you forever. See this: How To Find Your Student Loans.

You need to look at getting out of student loan debt. See this: How to Get Out Of Student Loan Default.

Well remember, your loans are also always growing as well, unless your payments are fully amortized.

I don't recommend most teachers do Teacher Loan Forgiveness. Rather, I recommend Public Service Loan Forgiveness. That's 10 years, but you get total loan forgiveness. And, if you get an income-driven plan with a very low payment, you might pay less anyway.

Check this out: Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Also see this: Student Loan Forgiveness For Teachers.

Now that he's done with school, it's over. His Pell Grant should have been used first before loans. Any unused Pell Grants have to be paid back.

Did you consolidate or rehabilitate your loans? Loan rehabilitation removes the default, consolidation does not.