Sallie Mae Reviews

I really hate Sallie Mae. I’m never borrowing from y’all again and I’m going to convince all my family and friends never to either. Student's loans are a toxic plague in our country and they prey on innocent people and chain them up for life. You Guys aren’t helping people. You’re enslaving them. My parents were young and co-signed for my loan and now that interest piles up faster than I can pay. It’s hurting the both of us. I will never go back into debt once I am free from y’all. And I will fight until my dying breath to put student loan lenders out of business in America. My parents are now debt free and helping my husband and I be debt free. I will never go back to fake money after this. I hope you guys go out of business.

Sallie Mae is the worst company to deal with when it comes to student loans. Honestly, every time I see their email about my statement I know they are going to ruin my day again. It gives me the most terrible headache. The interest is sky-high. Customer service is like speaking to a robot, perhaps, robots may have something in the heart area, Sallie Mae's SCR's have nothing, heartless people. They won't even bother to listen to you. Just saying what they are reading on their computer screens, and that's all. If I knew better about this company, I would've searched more and thoroughly to find a better, more human-like company to borrow loans. Praying for the day, when I won't see their emails in my inbox ever again. Please think twice before you go to this awful company.

My son applied for loans through Sallie Mae, all of which I cosigned for. He ended up taking out 4 loans (one each year). He chose the option to pay the interest while in school, in order to only owe the principle when he was finished with college. Each of his loans was on a variable rate (anywhere from 10 - 12.75) and the interest was calculated on each loan separately!! I took on the payment for him, and for his final year, it was up to 400 dollars a month just in interest!! It gradually climbed from 80 dollars to 400.

I am writing this so anyone who is considering Sallie Mae as a loan source for a student loan will think twice before taking a loan from them. These are not good people so if you decide to do business with them be careful. They are NOT looking out for your best interests. I am the father of a student who was was 18 years old and just starting college when Sallie Mae made an outrageous loan to her and her mom, neither who knew much about finance or borrowing money. Sallie Mae heavily solicited her loan and then gave her a 12.125 interest rate. I do know something about finance and know that at the time the cost of capital to Sallie Mae would have been somewhere in the vicinity of 1 percent. This is an estimate but that means Sallie Mae was making somewhere in the range of 10 to 11% on an 18 year old girl with no warning on what she was getting into.

I have been with this company since 2017. I make overpayments on the account, yes over payments to keep my accounts up to date to avoid bank charges. I am an overseas student and need to make a large lump sum to avoid additional $ 20.00 or $ 30.00 just in bank payments. Currently, I have $ 1800.00 of overpayments. Sallie Mae not only sends me a bill showing that I am late on two months of payments but they have called the credit bureau. When I called, please read this carefully, when I called to speak with a "trained" customer service, they told me that they do not know what a credit or payment on account means. I spoke with a supervisor, and please read this carefully, she told me I had to call Sallie Mae to tell someone in the accounting department to move a credit amount of $50.00 from an overpayment to satisfy a payment?

I graduated in December of 2019, a few months before cocos. I enrolled in their forbearance program, which is no payments for 3 months but still accruing interest. A week before it was supposed to end I had a death in the family and had to pour my savings into going to the funeral out of state. I contacted them and asked if at all possible to get my forbearance extended and they allowed me to extend it until October. (My balance remained at 0$) Two weeks later me and my co-signers started receiving emails and phone calls daily about how my forbearance has ended.

The most exploitative company I've ever dealt with. I took out a loan for my Bachelor's degree in desperate times of need and ended up with a 12.875% interest rate. I opted to pay $100 a month while I was still attending school- that was 'supposed' to go towards my interest on the loan. However, the monthly payment didn't shift my overall balance by a penny. It actually went up. Fast forward to post-graduation, I have a $900 monthly payment. Okay great, I'll pay $900 a month, and sometimes even $1000. "This will get paid off in no time." HAHA. My overall balance is still increasing. I'm basically throwing $900 a month into a black hole. The customer service can't even explain this concept to me. They can't even tell me where my money is being applied to- because it's definitely not my $30,000 loan. I've been paying $900 a month since January 2020. When I first started paying, my overall balance was $30,762; now it's $36,240. GOOD LUCK.

Sallie Mae is a predatory lender. First, they do not give an Amortization Schedule so you never understand how much goes to principal and how much goes to interest. Also, I have a 12.375% interest rate and my daughter is still in school. After 2 years, I owe over $2,700 in interest which is charged at $5.11 EVERY DAY!!! 100% of all of my payments will only be applied to the interest so even if I make payments, I will still have to pay all interest which NEVER stops accruing at a daily rate of ($5.11/per day). Customer Service was rude. I told them I will refinance this loan with another company and I will never do business with them. The Service Reps let you know how very much they could care less about your business. Agreeing to pay additional payments while in school doesn't help AT ALL because $0 of your payment will go to the principal.

If your choice is a Sallie Mae loan or not going to school- DON'T GO TO SCHOOL! They are the absolute worst company to deal with. While every other creditor is waiving or suspending payment during this virus time Sallie Mae is ignoring my medical discharge paperwork and reporting me to the credit agencies. They will hound you until the day you die and if they could dig you up and get a payment from your teeth they would do it. Bottom line- wait a year and save your money so you do NOT have to use them. If you do it anyway you only have yourself to blame.

I needed to update from my Customer Identification Number to SSN so I called agent. I had to fax them my SSN and they say it would take 3, 4 business days. After another 3 calls, today marks 48 days. Terrible Company!!!! Interest rate will jump to 11% no matter what and they are not doing anything in this stressful times of Coronavirus to help poor people and students that took loan. Do not make this mistake in your life, no matter how desperate you are, do not take loan at Sallie Mae. Wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy.

I got a loan from Sallie Mae for school. I couldn’t do what I was going to school for. I call and ask for loan forgiveness. Because I dropped out of the school and I’m unemployed. I give them a call for loan forgiveness and they told me they can’t do a loan forgiveness. Sallie Mae expect you to pay even if you are jobless. All Sallie Mae cares about is making your payment no matter what you going through, they don’t care. Period. Stay away from getting a loan from Sallie Mae.

I called up to speak with someone about working out arrangement with monthly interest payment because I just got laid off this morning because of Coronavirus. Message said no one in office because of virus but go online to chat with someone. There is no place to log on to a chat, just more BS from the government on everything, in the meantime I cannot discuss with anyone about the problem which I know I'm not the only one that has it. I am going to refinance my loan ASAP and will never ever use this BS operation again and I suggest others do the same!

Original review: March 11, 2020. I co-signed a loan for my son in 2016. He indicated that he would make a $25 payment a month, thinking that it would be applied to the interest. NOPE!! When I noticed that the balance was increasing, I called in 2018 and was told that it would accrue interest so he wouldn't need to worry about the payments until 2020 when he graduates. Imagine my surprise when they kept calling saying that he owes. Apparently the money that I paid for him ($100 month) beginning in 2016 through 2017 was used to "pay ahead" but not used to reduce the interest rate. Ok..but what is PAY AHEAD if it doesn't apply to P or I?

I took out a loan to partially pay for my MBA degree. Sallie Mae not only obscured many hidden fees despite asking repeatedly what other fees, expenses, costs, etc I needed to be aware of... I had no choice as this was only company who could help me finance my MBA overseas... Throughout the 5 year pay off period service staff were unhelpful and never were able to give me a clear indication of how payments I made matched to what was outstanding. Even with my 8 years in investment banking + MBA from a top program etc etc I couldnt crack their nutty ledger system. I felt completely powerless and had to simply ride it out until my loan was paid off.

How is this company allowed to lend out money then have the loans accrue interest at such insanely high rates? How do these people sleep at night? It's no wonder they sent 100+ employees to Hawaii to celebrate "record earnings"! They have so much money, they don't know what to do with it! I borrowed $26K, paid $2400 back over a year and now owe MORE than $26K. This is SHYLOCKING!! I called and the person was very nice and explained that all of the terms are sent in writing before the loan is taken. They are really putting the screws to innocent people that are just trying to go to college. My advice is stay FAR AWAY from Sallie Mae. Anything but this! What a joke!

Transferred by customer service three times just to get an answer. We started the loan co-signer process. The intention was to only find out what a rate would be to compare with other lenders. NOT TO APPLY FOR A LOAN. Sallie Mae is KEEPING OUR PRIVATE INFO (SS#, phone numbers, creditors, address, etc). They said they will keep our info 5-7 years, even though we have no dealings with them (didnt finish the loan app). Scam! They keep your info to possible sell or give to other companies? Please be forewarned. They should let people know this when they are trying to access their APR.

I have been paying this loan on time every single month for the last six years that I've had it. In that time frame, for no reason and no warning, my interest has increased over 2.5 percent. WHY. When I asked them about it, they said they don't do interest negotiations and couldn't tell me why my interest has been gradually increasing.

I took out a SM loan to go abroad for a Master's Degree in 2017-2018. Due to severe medical reasons, I was unable to work for 12 months after graduating. My loan is now (understandably) in default, however, my frustration stems from the fact that SM is completely unwilling to work with me. I cannot afford their "lump sum" payment option to lower my monthly payments to zero percent interest. I don't comprehend how these lower payments is an option after paying a HUGE amount, yet I cannot get them to agree to me paying more per month without the thousands required in the lump sum. They are acting as though their hands are tied and that there is no other possibility for me. Therefore, despite trying to get something worked out now that I have a job, they are refusing to help me at all.

Auto debit will stop paying after a few months without notice to you and incur late fees. If you don't get a fixed interest loan, expect your interest to skyrocket. I went from 6% to 11.75% in 4 years. If you make a payment, expect harassing phone calls to yourself, your employer and your cosigner within 2-3 days. A Sallie Mae rep processed a payment of mine incorrectly resulting in a late fee and literally dozens of harassing phone calls before I could figure out what the issue was and resolve it with the incompetent customer service. They do not offer income-based repayment. They only offer forbearance which compounds interest and makes you pay out more in the end. This is what I get for blindly following my parents' advice with loans and not knowing what I was doing as an 18 year old fresh out of college. Don't make the same mistakes as me.

This company is awful. Good luck getting answers from their customer service reps. They give you the runaround and then rudely ask if they can help you with anything else... You didn’t even help me yet! They charge ridiculous interest rates and make it impossible to refinance. They will kill your livelihood.

Advice for those in the early stages of getting Sallie Mae: I took 2 loans with them to pay college. One being 6100 with a 11% interest rate and other $6500 with a 10% interest rate. So $12,600 total.. Unlike most people in this forum, I chose to pay interest while still in school. Most people wait for it to accumulate and pay both interest and principal after graduation. They usually get a high monthly fee (I've heard 700-900+) For 4 years in school, I paid $107/month for both loans which is $5,136 total until graduation. I still owe the principal, $12,600.

Simply don't sign a deal with the devil. When you sign, everything looks bright and cherry as you're working on the education of your dreams. You may pay nothing at all or something little while you're in school but it doesn't matter because all is well and you're having a great experience. Then you graduate...and receive a 6 months grace period to find yourself a decent paying job. If you're blessed, you find one but you're living paycheck to paycheck especially after those 6 month. Minimum payment may be $900 a month (like mine especially if you were a stupid high school kid like me thinking you have to go out of state and one of the "better schools". Which is a lie from hell, they're all the same).

My son completed an application for his Junior and Senior year of college. When completing the application it was asked the amount we would be borrowing over the next 2 years and my son was approved for that amount. The University received 2 disbursements for fall and Spring Junior Semesters. When we were ready to make the next disbursement for his Fall Senior year we were told that since the University did not disburse the amount after Spring Junior year the loan was closed.

They rejected my $50 forbearance good faith payment (on two different cards) after a rep incorrectly entered the zip code associated with my card into their system a week before. Today, they denied my request for forbearance because the payment was rejected and told me my balance of $350 was due immediately. I reminded them that the error was on their end and insisted I wouldn’t be able to make the payment this month or next month due to some unexpected emergencies. Rep speaks to his supervisor, comes back and tells me they can give me forbearance for this month but next month my account balance will be $350. Forty minutes, two reps, and one supervisor later, my good faith payment was processed. All of that for an error one of your employees made. Amazing.

My family and I found out that we would not have enough to pay for my college tuition so we were referred to Sallie Mae. Since then, it has been the worst decision of my life. After graduation I was expected to pay $1,000 a month which has now risen to $1,700 a MONTH due to interest. I work in an entry-level position in Marketing and my monthly payments are absolutely ridiculous. I have tried to contact Sallie Mae to see if they can lower my payments, but every time I call I am greeted with a nasty Sallie Mae representative or there is nothing they can do. They do not care about anyone except for the money that they make off of people who cannot pay their student loans right away. Sallie Mae is a terrible company and the student debt crisis needs to be addressed. Colleges are more of a big business rather than an educational system and thrive off of families who cannot pay their student loans.

I deposited money into this bank a couple months ago. They froze the account due to "suspicion of fraud". These criminals/fraudsters stole my money and they are the ones accusing me of being a fraudster. Ironic to say the least! To this date I have not been able to recover the money that is in my account(s). I would not recommend this bank to my worst enemy.

Hello, I was tricked into a parent plus loan with SM. After my daughter finished school the loan was immediately due. My daughter did not begin payments and rather than try to get her to pay so that she could consolidate this loan along with her others they decided to just come after me for the payments. I have been trying to let my daughter assume the debt but SM will not now let her assume the debt which is hurting my credit. This from a company that was bailed out by Obama in 2008! They should be punished for mishandling funds NOT helped, they never help me try to reconcile the loan. I would like to just settle the loan but they want the entire loan amount. They did not have to pay their entire loan amount from this government that used our money to bail them out.

All my loans are paid in full but my children are still paying. The student loan and college tuition situation is a criminal crisis. Naive students and parents are tricked into loans that will take years to pay for an “education” that is more socialist Marxist brain washing than a legitimate learning experience that will lead to a fulfilling and sustaining career. There should be more controls on the use of loan money. It shouldn’t be used for frivolous reasons. There should be counseling on the consequences of borrowing and the responsibility of borrowing. Colleges are getting wealthy and spending tons of money on frivolous research and activities while soaking students for huge tuitions for a product they promise and do not deliver.

I received a denial letter from Sallie Mae for a student loan I never applied for. The option of Parent Loans were on my college profile so I reviewed the info but I didn't apply for them. No money was exchanged but this will affect my credit score which is already low enough. Also I am clearly not the parent.

Dissatisfied would be the understatement of the century to describe my experience with these monsters! My grace period ended on April 24, so my first payments were due on that date. For now, I am working a job that only pays $10.50 an hour and the amount I am expected to pay back every month is way too high for me to afford.

We were directed to Sallie Mae by my Granddaughter's University when we, at the last moment, found out she was short for tuition. As we needed to fund in 3 days we agreed co-sign on the worst interest loan we had ever been offered: 11%. It was miserable from that point on. We were given the incorrect payment address twice, the posting always ended up late by the time it reached the correct department. Their explanation: they were being divided and administered by different companies. I would get calls from outside the country because we were "late" - no, we were not. Finally was able to speak with someone in Salt Lake who told us he would be our contact and then, of course, he was soon no longer there. Once we signed up for auto withdrawal, it calmed down.... until my granddaughter graduated, she paid just fine until she moved out of state, could not find a job.

It ONLY took 12 years to pay-off the undergrad loan. Med school was financed thru Parents and Will probably get paid off in less time. My only issue will be if Politicians pass laws to forgive debts. What about everyone who has been paying monthly debt for over a decade? There is no discussion about repaying those who have diligently paid down debt. Will any Student Loans be reimburse (probably not).

I called Sallie Mae a few months ago after they doubled my loan payment unexpectedly. I told them they can either change it back to what it was or expect it to default. I don’t care about my credit and have no desire to own a home anytime soon so it’s no sweat off my back. Of course they were unwilling to work with me except for putting it in forbearance, so they can add the grossly accumulated interest onto the principal. So I stopped paying. I didn’t have a co-signer so the only person that hurts is myself.

I co-signed a loan for my daughter's undergraduate tuition and expenses. The interest rate continued to rise. Although we paid early and twice or three times the minimum each month, Sallie Mae would not work with us to lower or refinance the loan. Even though we were told this would be an option down the road. When calling, their customer service representatives were not helpful and sometimes rude. I would not recommend Sallie Mae.

WARNING-I worked in fraud. It seems to me from the questions I was asked today that some of their reps are trying to get information to sell. What this company asked me for today is NOT NORMAL. I tried to open a two year CD here for a small amount. First time their website crashed during the verification. Second time it went through after asking me to verify everything under the sun including my ex sister in law's name who hasn’t been married to my brother in 15 plus years. Next day I get an email asking me to verify more. I call and verify the account, get transferred to fraud. Fraud says there is a problem with my address. I verify it as well as another property we owned in the 15 years I continually owned the other. They leave me on hold forever. I tell them they can verify with the tax assessor. That’s not proof they say. Then they start asking the weirdest garbage. Who my mobile carrier is and whose name my phone account is under? My pets' names.

I had a horrible experience with Sallie Mae. They contacted me repeatedly to consolidate my credit card debt. After spending lots of time giving them all the information they wanted and lots of calls from them telling me that I would definitely get a loan, I logged on to check on my loan and the results said I had no application on file. They just erased everything because the "proprietary method" they used said that my income wasn't enough. When I called to ask about it, the representative said that the person with whom I had been working was in and he would connect me. He then proceeded to put me on hold 6 times while he asked this person about my loan (he clearly was too cowardly to tell me that he had turned me down after assuring me that my loan would be approved) and finally I just gave up and said I would go through my credit union. Awful, awful customer service. Just a ghastly experience.

I am so glad I'm not the only one that has had a horrible experience with Sallie Mae. I thought I was helping my two sons with alternative loans to go to college but this company has made life after college difficult for my sons to start life. My sons have bachelor degrees and pay close to $700 dollars a month to Sallie Mae. The most they owe is 40,000. The interest my husband and I paid on these loans during the four yrs of college did not help our sons' interest as it was explained to us it would. FALSE ADVERTISEMENT!!!

This was quite some time ago, but I did have a loan with them and it is was simple and easy to take care of. Was transferred a few times, but nothing changed. The other lenders were just as pleasant. Glad when it was paid off!!

I had a savings account with Sallie Mae. Three weeks ago I was informed, with no advanced warning, that my account had been closed due to (what they said was) "suspicious activity." They refuse to tell me what this suspicious activity was supposed to be, they refuse to tell me when I will get my money back or how much of it I will get back -- they won't tell me anything. Again, this was three weeks ago.

I have multiple accounts with passwords and never have issues. With Sallie Mae, however, after being locked out of my account continuously, even when using saved passwords, written-down-so-I-don’t-forget passwords, etc, I STILL get locked out. When you call, don’t expect any help either. You will get hung up on before you navigate the automated system. Literally the worst bank ever. I have emailed to request someone please call me instead, hoping I can talk to someone long enough to close my account.