FAFSA student loan doubled despite 12 years of payments - Mohela won't answer my calls

This is unfortunately really common with federal loan servicing transfers. I went through something similar when my loans were transferred from Navient to Aidvantage. The interest rate issue is concerning though - if you have federal loans, they should maintain their original fixed interest rate regardless of servicer transfers. Do you have your original loan documents? That's crucial to proving what your real rate should be. Also, request your full payment history from FSA directly - they should have records even if the servicers 'lost' them during transfers.

omg im going thru the EXACT same thing!!! my loans got transferred 3 times and now they're saying i missed 4 payments from 2019 that i KNOW i made. this whole system is a scam to keep us paying forever. btw have u tried the PSLF program? my cousin got her loans forgiven after 10 yrs of payments but she had to work for the government

I had similar issues with Mohela. After weeks of trying to call, I finally found a way to get through to them. I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that holds your place in the phone queue and calls you when a rep picks up. Saved me hours of waiting. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. After finally getting through, I discovered they had applied my payments to the wrong loan group which explained why my balance wasn't decreasing as expected. Make sure you get everything documented in writing once you reach them.

Financial aid advisor here. Your situation sounds like it might have several compounding issues. First, check your SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) on studentaid.gov - this gives you access to your complete federal loan history regardless of servicer. Second, if your interest rate genuinely increased from what you originally signed for, that's potentially illegal and you should file a formal complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Regarding the doubling of your loan despite payments, this suggests that you might have been on an income-driven plan where your payments weren't covering the accruing interest. This is called negative amortization and it's a significant problem in the student loan system. You might want to look into the SAVE plan (replacing REPAYE) which has better interest subsidies, or loan consolidation. Feel free to ask follow-up questions about any of these options.

the government WANTS us to die in debt!!!! this is all BY DESIGN, wake up! they sold our loans to wall street just like the 2008 mortgage crisis. did you know the dept of education makes BILLIONS off student loan interest??? this is why they make it impossible to get help or file bankruptcy. its modern debt slavery and we're all trapped

Have u tried going to ur congressperson's office? My sister had a similar issue with FedLoan & she contacted her representative's constituent services. They have staff who deal with federal agencies all the time & can sometimes cut through red tape faster than we can as individuals. Also did u check if ur eligible for the IDR waiver or account adjustment? They're counting some forbearance periods toward forgiveness now.

I work in the financial aid office at a university, and this kind of situation happens more than you'd think. Here's what I recommend: 1. File a complaint with the FSA Ombudsman Group (studentaid.gov/feedback-center/) - they're specifically designed to mediate disputes between borrowers and loan servicers 2. Request an administrative forbearance while your issues are being investigated - this will temporarily pause payments without penalty 3. If your loans were indeed transferred without proper notification or your interest rate was changed improperly, request a full accounting of your loan history through both the current and previous servicers 4. Consider loan consolidation through studentaid.gov directly (not through a third party) - this could potentially lock in a new fixed interest rate that's the weighted average of your current loans The fact that your loan doubled despite 12 years of payments strongly suggests either capitalized interest from forbearances/deferments or potentially being on an income-driven plan with payments lower than the monthly interest accrual. Let me know which part you'd like more details on.

has anyone else noticed that the FAFSA website is down like ALL THE TIME?? i tried to access my account yesterday to check my loan details and got an error message. typical govt incompetence

After reading through this thread, I think you might want to look into the Fresh Start program if you've had any periods of default. Also, I recently discovered that if you request your records through a formal FOIA request to the Department of Education, they have to provide your complete loan history regardless of servicer transfers. It sounds extreme, but sometimes these formal legal approaches are the only way to get accurate information when servicers are giving you the runaround.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - have you looked into whether you qualify for any discharge programs based on your school or career? If you attended a school that has since been found to have engaged in misleading practices (like many for-profit colleges), you might be eligible for Borrower Defense to Repayment. Similarly, if you work in certain fields (teaching, healthcare in underserved areas, etc.), there are specific forgiveness programs beyond PSLF. The recent changes to income-driven repayment plans have also made forgiveness more accessible.

I'm so sorry you're going through this nightmare. Reading through all these responses, it's clear you're not alone but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. Based on what everyone has shared, I'd suggest tackling this on multiple fronts simultaneously: 1) Use that Claimyr service to actually get through to Mohela, 2) File complaints with both the FSA Ombudsman and CFPB about the interest rate issue, and 3) Contact your congressional representative's office for help navigating the bureaucracy. The fact that your loan doubled despite 12 years of payments is absolutely unacceptable and suggests serious errors in how your account has been managed. Don't give up - you have more options than you realize, and there are people (like the financial aid advisors in this thread) who genuinely want to help you get this resolved.

I've been following this thread closely and wanted to add one more resource that might help. If you're still having trouble getting through to Mohela even with the queue services, try calling their "vulnerable borrower" line if you qualify (it's for borrowers experiencing financial hardship). The wait times are often shorter and the representatives tend to be more experienced with complex account issues. Also, when you do get through, immediately ask to speak with a "loan resolution specialist" rather than general customer service - they have more authority to investigate payment application errors and can put holds on your account while issues are being resolved. Document everything with dates, times, and rep names. Your situation sounds like it involves multiple systemic errors that should absolutely be fixable once you get the right person looking at your account.