Loan to Learn or Bait and Hook?

HIGHEREDWATCH.ORG

September 22, 2006

"I can't think of a scenario where a private loan would be a better option."

Mark Brenner
Vice Chairman
College Loan Corporation

Related Programs:
Higher Ed Watch

Private college loan provider "Loan to Learn" has sent an "open letter" to the nation’s student financial aid administrators that could rank as one of the more cynical attempts by the student loan industry to exploit students and taxpayers.

Loan to Learn’s letter, which attempts to ingratiate itself with college aid officials by defending them against another lender’s charges of kickbacks and payola (as if Loan to Learn doesn't participate in related unsavory activities), might be more credible if Loan to Learn itself were not trying to profit by implicitly maligning and undermining the nation’s student financial aid delivery system.

Loan to Learn's own promotional materials suggest none too subtly that students face extraordinary troubles with financial aid offices and would be well served by bypassing the whole federal financial aid system.

* Loan to Learn advertises that “hundreds of thousands of FAFSA applications are RETURNED FOR ERRORS each year” and suggests that students instead can get private loans quickly and directly from Loan to Learn, as if that were a better option.

But seldom, if ever, is a private loan in the best financial interest of students as compared to a federal student loan. In fact, Loan to Learn offers a particularly bad deal, according to this market survey. On top of upfront fees that equal up to 10% of principal borrowed, Loan to Learn’s interest rates reach up to 16% per year. In contrast, the federal Stafford Loan interest rate is 6.8% per year and the federal PLUS loan interest rate is 8.5% per year.

* Loan to Learn advertises that "our loans cover more than just tuition" as if lower interest federal student loans do not. In fact, not only do federal Stafford loans cover total cost of attendance, including books, room, and board, but federal PLUS loans have no borrowing limit.

Other private loan providers, including Sallie Mae, acknowledge that private loans should be considered only after federal loan eligibility has been exhausted. Loan to Learn does not.

Loan to Learn says in their open letter to the financial aid community that the company “will continue to work closely with financial aid professionals” and serve “the best interests of students and their families.”

Really?

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Comments

Loan to Learn

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 2, 2006 - 6:51am.

I emphatically, unequivocally and absolutely discourage anyone considering private student loans to fund their education from choosing Loan to Learn. My student loan process took almost two months to complete (a far cry from their promise of "three minutes to qualify" and "two days after recieving the application"). I was consistently and almost without fail told different things by every single person I spoke with at this company, be it supervisor, customer service representative (CSR), or loan processing officer. In addition to this maddening internal inconsistency, none of the things told to me by any of their representatives were actually true (which is astounding as I thought that one in the dozens of people it took to deal with my disbursement may have actually been correct, if for no other reason than simple chance). Their communication skills, both internal and external, are simply dismal, absoultely unprofessional and ultimately infuriating. At one point I was even chastised by a CSR for requesting more money since the loan they offered didn't even cover the actual costs of my education, as if to imply I was being greedy and should be grateful for the insufficient funds they were offering me at a phenomenally frustrating emotional cost. Their interest rate was fine, as low as anyone else's, but their mindblowing lack customer of service skills, unbelievable absence of efficent or effective communication, unprofessional approach, and discouraging level of inconsistency led me to feel as if I couldn't trust anything this company might tell me. Believe me when I say to you, no matter what they tell you, the check is not, in fact, in the mail.

Loan to Learn not so bad at all

Submitted by Hannah (not verified) on February 26, 2007 - 9:00pm.

I have a loan with Loan to Learn and to be honest I have not experienced the kinds of troubles the top commenter is stating..It took me 6 days from the day I applied untilI got my check via fedex. I am assuming obviously you had a bad experience, however if you have all of your information together and ready to go, you will get your funds very quickly. Most student loans take months to get funded. I am not quite sure why you are crying over a few weeks :) I just thought I would let you all know I had a great experience and will be taking another loan with this company upcoming fall Hannah (Birmingham, AL)

loan to learn

Submitted by scott (not verified) on March 27, 2007 - 9:02am.

sorry hannah but i am a loan to learn borrower and i have to say that they're right.

I missed my first payment because the bill was sent in an envelope from the "loan servicing and consolidation center". Thinking this letter was an advertisement from a consolidation center, I threw it away. When I called Loan to Learn, they said my payment wasn't due until next month. That is because they had sent it to their collections office and once a bill is out of their office they know nothing of it. My interest rate immediately jumped to 15.84% which, by the way, is compounded daily! they're customer service dept. is clueless, and will pass you around to multiple offices until you finally get fed up and except the lame excuses for THEIR incompetence.

several months later i got the bill from their collections dept. and, once again, did not have the time and patience to dispute it. the first $85 payment ended up costing about $200. luckily for me they waived the $10 check-by-phone fee that they usually charge :)

i am currently trying to consolidate this loan and recommend the same out of anyone else who has borrowed from them. and for any student who is considering this loan; STAY FAR FAR AWAY!!!!!!!!!

note to hannah: this loan may look sweet now, but it will quickly turn sour.

I also have a loan through

Submitted by Sara (not verified) on March 5, 2008 - 3:29pm.

I also have a loan through Loan to Learn. My paper bills arrive a week after the due date, and they cash checks for payment but still call and tell me that they are late, when I have paid them well in advance. They don't have information straight and they take advantage of students in need. If it doesn't occur during the application process, it will when you have graduated and have to begin remitting payments!!!

Loan to Learn

Submitted by lisa (not verified) on May 1, 2007 - 12:10am.

Don't do it. Just stay away from this place - they sent me to third party collections for being 30 days late and they added a $10,000 fee on top of my $30,000 loan - YES, no kidding. AND, this was after they would not approve an economic hardship deferment, they mysteriously 'lose' paperwork that is already being processed. Really, they are a mess and will not work with you at all.

From a former employee of Loan to Learn

Submitted by unknown (not verified) on May 2, 2007 - 9:40am.

I totally agree with the negative comments made about Loan to Learn. As a former employee with this company, I can honestly relate to the comments expressing the unfortunate, dissatisfying experiences individuals have had with the company. Being on the other end of the phone, I felt the customers frustrations and the uncertainty they had of how this company handles their business. I, along with the customers, was frustrated at how Loan to Learn operates. They seem not to know exactly how they wanted to run their company, which explains why there was no consistency in the explanations of the customers issues from the CSR to the customer regarding problems and concerns. No one, including myself, knew the exact reason why a customer had to wait up to several weeks for their checks or why the a customer account was automatically sent to a third party collection agency after 30 days of not receiving payment. Maybe we all knew or had an idea of the true reasons to these unfortunate and common situations, but chose not to disclose it to the customer for the sake of one's job...except me. For those who are seeking additional financial assistance for school, please do a thorough research of any company before jumping into something that sounds to good to be true. After my experience with Loan to Learn (in which I could right a book), I personally would try very had to stay away from private student loans, especially if they don't offer or grant any federal benefits (aka Loan to Learn). FYI- Be aware of big banks that coincide with these small private loan businesses. Loan to Learn is partnered up with a well known bank offering loans under this bank's name (to avoid any legal ratifications- I chose not to disclose the banks' name). Good luck for those who are seeking financial assistance for school. Hope this was helpful...

Loan to learn

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 17, 2007 - 1:17pm.

As another former employee of Loan To Learn, I totally agree with the previous entry. They have no clue as to what's going on and policies change on a daily basis. They call themselves a non-profit organization, which is ironic considering they charge some students up to 16% interest and they hire hard core sales people to push students into getting their loans.

The CEO of the company, Catherine Reynolds is an egomaniac -- she even has a plasma TV in the lobby showing an interview of her on 60 Minutes running all day on a continuos loop. She told a supervisor once not to fund small loans, only fund loans over 10K, she tries to tell her employees the importance of education, yet the only reason she's in this business is to make money. She's already done this this before -- started a similar company years ago only to sell it to the highest bidder.

Do yourselves a favor, look for alternatives, you can do much better than Loan To Learn.

Wow, to the above statement

Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on May 22, 2007 - 9:12pm.

Wow, to the above statement made by former Loan to Learn employee: Your grammar and spelling is embarrassing. Maybe you were fired due to incompetence?? I have 2 loans with the company and both experiences have been great compared to the experience I suffered at the hands of Ms. Mae and her moron cohorts. Loan to Learn took about a week to process my loan and fund my check. Don't be fooled students, the federal government isn't going to give you enough money and you'll have to go with a private lender eventually. Know this: all rates are gonna be pretty much the same, just make sure you or a co-borrower have a fico score of 650 or higher with as much income and as little debt as possible and you'll get a great rate and a good experience.

Not surprising

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 4, 2007 - 11:53pm.

Probably 70% of the call-center staff and "loan officers" were temporary/seasonal help hired just to put tails in seats. None of them were "professionals" and most of them had distinguished resumes including "McDonalds" and "Arbys"..

Personally, I am not disappointed by L2L's lack of performance - it's hard to be disappointed when you don't have any expectations.

I know this is long winded but just read for yourself...

Submitted by Josh (not verified) on May 31, 2007 - 2:40am.

Ok, here’s my experience with this joke of a financial institution thus far and I have yet to receive a check… I completed my loan application along with faxing them all the documents that they requested of both me and my cosigner(s). (Both of which have perfect credit) One week goes by without hearing anything from them and at the end of the week I get a call from a representative who then tells me that one of my cosigners has to re-fax proof of income documents. Ok no problem I immediately called my cosigner to relay this info, they in turn immediately fax said documents and I figure “cool I should get my tuition check in 3 to 5 business days” (like the representative told me.) Three days go by and I don’t hear a word from them, so I called them… The next individual that I spoke to tells me that they did receive the proof of income documents and that they were “being indexed for final approval” (Don’t ask me what this means because I was told on the first phone call that I was already approved.) Then after telling me this, he tells me that my other cosigner needs to re-fax proof of employment documents to them because “the company name was not readable” on the previous fax. So now my frustration is seriously starting to build as I was about 4 days away from my first day of class. So I then again relay this info to my other cosigner and they in turn re-fax said documents. Four days later on the way home from my first day of school I get a call from another rep from Loan to Learn and she tells me that for them to be able to loan me the full amount that was originally agreed upon that I would need to re-fax my summer schedule and proof of registration for the fall semester and that this would be the last document needed and I should receive my check in 3 to 5 days of them getting this last fax. It was at this point that I became thoroughly mad but bit my tongue just to get through this and receive my check. (Again why wasn’t this information communicated to me initially? You tell me…) So that night I spoke with my wife and we decided to put all of our bills and expenses on hold and use her entire paycheck plus $500 which was borrowed from a family member to pay for my tuition and books because the tuition deadline was the next day. The next morning comes (5/30/07 this morning) and I go into the administrative department at my school and give them $1,616.00 to pay my tuition and books. Then I go to the registrar’s office to pre register for the fall semester and they tell me that I can’t do anything for the fall semester until 6/18/07. After pleading with her for about 10 minutes to give me something that states that I will be a student here for the fall semester I finally gave up. So my next course of action was to re-fax my summer schedule, a letter explaining my situation and the receipts for my tuition and books hoping that if they see that I’m willing to put down $1,615 dollars of my own money before I even get the loan that I would definitely be attending the fall semester and, they would be willing to loan me the full amount that was originally agreed upon which by the way was about $2,900 short of fully covering tuition, books and tools. So yet again this evening I receive another call from Loan to Learn and they tell me that because the summer semester was already paid for that they would be unable to loan me the full amount that was originally agreed upon and that they would still need a copy of my fall schedule faxed to them to send me any kind of check at all. So now myself and my family are completely broke and seriously in a state of financial hardship, unable to pay any of our bills or pay back family members that loaned us money for this venture and I cant get any kind of student loan (who knows what the amount will be) for another 2 and ½ weeks. This is the state that I am currently in for trying to obtain a degree and better myself and my family… Their website claims they “completely cover expenses related to the pursuit of an Associates Degree.” In my experience with Loan to Learn thus far this is a deceiving and untrue statement. They also claim to serve “the best interests of students and their families.” This also has not been my experience with Loan to Learn, in fact the opposite of that satement is closer to the truth… I will be launching a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. AVOID THIS COMPANY. THIS IS CALLED PREDATORY LENDING...

ha ha all I can do is laugh

Submitted by Unknown (not verified) on June 19, 2007 - 9:42pm.

Haha all I can do is laugh extremely hard about the above comment left by Josh. I am a student who has taken out loans before from other companies, as well as loan to learn. First of all, when comparing Loan to Learn to other private lenders, I must say it is by far MUCH easier dealing with them than others. They are nicer and handle things alot faster than most other lenders, taking into account if you have your information accurate and presentable. DO NOT leave a comment slamming an organization because you and your co-signers cannot fax documents that are legible to read. Can you really blame a company for trying to be thorough and make sure its customers are really who they say they are and are showing legible proof for everything??? That just shows me that they are doing their job, and yes, sometimes it may cost customers a few extra days but if the customers can't get it right, it's not really their fault. It is the same concept as Americans having to give up their "freedoms" because of terrorism issues in the U.S., having to go through extra security lines, or having their phones tapped. Would you rather we are unsafe and have short lines everywhere or are safe going through extra security even though it may take us a few additional hours in line??? I think your comment is very ignorant when it comes to faulting Loan to Learn about your "frustrations" because they weren't able to read your documents that were faxed. And secondly, since I have a loan with this company, I am well aware of their policies. Just because your school has a certain cost to attend it, it does not mean you are guaranteed to be granted the full amount since it is CLEARLY a PRIVATE LOAN, hence it is based on credit and based on yyour credit you are granted what you are granted. Therefore, they fully cover the cost of expenses related to an associates degree like you stated, as far as they can BASED on your credit. And you said you have perfect credit, which you know what, when I first went to take out a loan, I thought that too as well as my parents did. My parents were given their terms and thought to themselves "we have perfect credit" but we discovered it wasn't as perfect as we thought it was. And lastly, you seem like you are mostly frustrated due to your OWN FAULT. This should be a lesson to you in the future; do NOT wait until the last minute for anything. Personally, with the other lenders I have used, if you waited until the last minute to do the same thing you did with loan to learn, you would probably be even worse off because it would have taken even longer. Loan to learn in my eyes maintains a fast process when giving out their loans to students, as long as you and your co-signers are able to send everything back correctly. For everyone else, do yourself a favor, do not wait until the last minute to take out a loan with any loan company, it just will make you frustrated and blame that company for not getting it out to you fast enough. As far as Loan to Learn goes, I will be graduating next year and will be looking for them to consolidate my loans, but I advise other college students to use them because they are friendly, helpful, and very efficient!!!!!!

I think the word for this is

Submitted by Ex-L2L (not verified) on December 13, 2007 - 1:41pm.

Shill.... (from Dictionary.com - a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.)

To shill for a company is to artificially pump-up the company's image for the media.. Usually it's done for the benefit of the stock market and public investors.... but in this case I think it's for the benefit of private investors.

But if, god forbid, someone would be stupid enough to be considering investing in this loser of a proposition, they would need a *LOT* of shilling to believe the load of tripe that's being fed to them. Anyone who invests in this will be lucky to get out of it what they put into it. It might look good on the surface, but there is no depth to it. Nothing in the building was built to last.

Bill O'Reilly of Fox News Channel

Submitted by Max (not verified) on June 8, 2007 - 11:42pm.

I am a tractor-trailer driver who is interested in attending a university for a degree in Information Technology. While driving I listen to the Radio Factor, which is Bill O'Reilly's talk show on 96.9 FM, WTTK-Boston. Bill O'Reilly prides himself on accurately reporting news and he is also a man of deep conviction and moral principle. Loan to Learn is a sponsor of the Radio Factor and Bill O'Reilly himself does a commercial for this obviously predatory lending organization. That being said, I believe that Bill O'Reilly would investigate these claims against Loan to Learn if someone would present him with facts (documentation, records, receipts and so on). If Mr. O'Reilly found these allegations to be true, he is the kind of man who would as he says, "Set the record straight".

I was considering Loan to Learn for my financial needs, but after reading this I've changed my mind. Thank you to those who shared your EXPERIENCES here.

Right --

Submitted by Liv (not verified) on June 22, 2007 - 12:14am.

After reading these, and other comments on loan review websites, I have been thoroughly convinced not to borrow from Loan to Learn. It seems that all the positive comments come from those who have yet to consolidate their loans or are only in the beginning stages of getting checks/making payments for their loan and have not begun to encounter any further troubles. Those who express difficulty dealing with Loan to Learn seem to be the people who have had their loans for awhile and are having trouble getting payments or keeping their interest down to a reasonable level.

(And to those who are bitching about others taking out loans too late -- don't bullshit us. One of the benefits of a private loan should most CERTAINLY be quick and reliable service. Saying it's okay for this company's checks to take longer than they promise is the exact equivalent of saying that it's okay for phone and internet companies to charge us for extras they decide are necessary. This does happen -- many large companies suffer a "right hand doesn't know what the left is doing" syndrome but it is not okay, and in order to a company to deserve and keep its integrity and honor they must EARN it repeatedly. Simply having a website and advertising a good loan does not gaurantee anything of the sort.)

I won't go as far to say that there is a magic loan out there with permanent low interest and perfect deferment plans, but from everything I have learned about taking out loans for school (I've just graduated from college and am about to head off to graduate school), I can say that Loan to Learn is NOT living up to its expected standard. If you read the fine, fine print on its website they actually admit this, though they obviously do not advertise any difficulties right away. I was a little suspicious when they did not have a customer review section (all good companies will have one), and so began to do a little more research. I was surprised by my findings but not shocked -- it's not the first time a large company has promised to be non-profit and productive for the "common person" and turned out to be money grabbing and unreliable.

No one is perfect -- and when you're taking out loans from ANYWHERE, the company/government should recognize that at least to some degree. I'm not advising you to be late on loans continuously, or telling the lenders that they should be entirely forgiving of unreliable and unresponsible customers, BUT the customer is always right in this business, and these companies must honor that to the FULLEST degree.

(And FYI regarding American freedom, phone tapping, giving up personal rights, etc: Don't be an idiot. Don't swallow everything your government tells you about the dangers of the outside world and how we have to give up our liberties to maintain our freedom. Our way of life is excessive and dangerously luxurious, and that is NO EXCUSE for wanting to have extreme government intervention into our private lives to protect your Infiniti Coup and three monstorous and dangerous SUVs that have never towed anything in their lives. 'm a good American -- born and raised here -- and still I am appauled by the luxury so many in our country are comfortable living in while the majority of the rest of the world can barely scrape by on $5 a month. And even ignoring a comparison to any other country or government, there is no reason my country should be able to track every single move I ever make with no prior reason. Our justice system is being gravely challenged and undermined by our OWN government and a stop must be put to this horrendus crime as soon as possible. And although it seems antiquated and no longer relevant, Patrick Henry was most known for his challenge to corrupted government authority and defense of American rights, so I feel his words are only too pressing and important to remember: Give me liberty, or give me death.)

To the former employees

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 22, 2007 - 9:42pm.

Think about it, there is a reason you are former employees!!

To the former employees?

Submitted by Jesse (not verified) on August 5, 2007 - 4:37pm.

Gee - we're all former employees now, aren't we?

LOL

The company was never built for the long haul. The infrastructure was unstable and they knew it, but refused any of the suggestions that would have fixed, or at least alleviated, some of the problems.

Students and former employees

Submitted by honestly (not verified) on June 30, 2007 - 10:35am.

As a financial aid manager of an online college, I deal with many reputable lenders. I have several students that have been sucked in with the “bait and hook” hardcore sales of this lender. Once they have you, they will destroy your credit and dignity. Congratulations to those ex-employees that have the sense to leave this company. I could not see how these people sleep at night. I am in the process of pulling together enough information to file a grievance with the better business bureau and report them to the board of education. Not only do they not follow the rules and regulations set by the board of education, they do not follow the standard collections regulations by charging astronomical fees without any explanations. I was horrified to see that other students have gone through this with them as mine have. I will post an email for all students interested in joining the grievance as soon as I have all the information I need to proceed. If you post your emails on this list, I will contact you individually myself. No phone numbers please, keep your information private!

For those that are defending this company or attacking the ex-employees, all I can say is ‘karma’ ! You have no idea what you are talking about and ignorance will be your downfall! I am sure I will be hearing from you when your loans get lost in their incompetence.

look before you jump

Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on July 10, 2007 - 12:18pm.

I am currently dealing with this company and unfortunately I have to agree with the negative sentiment of a majority of the comments. While the up front paper work may be easy, the long term problems I have encountered with this entity have far outweighed the initial benefit. The internal operations of the company are not in sync and I have had severe difficulty in getting any issue resolved. The company reported inaccurate late payments on my account and has been a problem to deal with ever since. The lack of consistency and customer service in a financial institution such as this is very disturbing. I would be very careful about getting involved with this company and would advise you to seek other better established companies.

Educap (Loan to Learn)

Submitted by Jonathan Woodgate (not verified) on July 27, 2007 - 5:04pm.

For those of you who are still a bit confused about Loan to Learn (Educap) read the Washington Post, front page on Monday, July 16 and you'll get an idea as to what your dealing with, then read the follow up on Tuesday, July 24, page A8 (Senate seeks student loan firm's data)

What an eye-opening experience.

EduCap (Loan To Learn)

Submitted by Jesse (not verified) on August 5, 2007 - 4:38pm.

The follow up article posted on 8/2 says it all.

"is considering shutting it's loan operations..."

Going out of business.......

Submitted by Former Loan To Learn Employee (not verified) on August 10, 2007 - 9:49am.

L2L is officially shutting it's doors!!! I am a former employee and have many friends who are still employed there (or were until last week). They have just fired 80% of their staff with the rest following on October first. This company is truly a nightmare and I'm glad to see that they will no longer be able to inflict anymore pain on college students, their families, and their employees.

I have a Loan to Learn loan

Submitted by James (not verified) on August 14, 2007 - 4:40pm.

I have a Loan to Learn loan for $8,000 and missed one payment and they sent me a letter saying I owed them $12,400. Some one had stolen my identity and I have been trying to fight against that and forgot to make a monthly payment to them. The situation has gotten so bad I might have to file bankruptcy to keep all these creditors from coming after me for things I did not purchase and even Loan to Learn creditors. Even though Loan to Learn is shutting it's doors and I have to file, will that keep me from having to pay them? I do not think that is is a government guaranteed loan. Does anybody know about this? Thanks for taking the time to read and post if you have an answer. Thanks.

Loan to learn and collection agencies

Submitted by DWwilliams (not verified) on August 21, 2007 - 12:48pm.

As a parent trying to fund my sons education I am happy that I found this site. I was looking to learn more about this company and boy have I! I would like to impart a bit of information to any of you who are having to deal with their practice of sending late/ delinquent accounts. Don't do any business with the collection agency. Spend about $20 bucks and find a book called "Back Off". It is downloadable on the web. It explains how and why you don't have to deal with 3rd party collections. DO NOT send any money to a collection agency. in the book you will learn about a "cease and desist" letter. Once you send it to them (collections) they can't even call you. I have NO connection with the book, I am just trying to save a bunch of you the headache of dealing with these parriahs. Thanks to all of you who put up info about the company, I'll stick with the stafford /fed loans. Good Luck

Repayment

Submitted by Greg (not verified) on September 8, 2007 - 1:57pm.

I am sorry to say that I bought into Loan to Learn's advertisement. The end of the month was coming, my previous loan was nearly gone, and I could not get an advanced payment from work. I saw Loan to Learn on tv and quickly looked into it. It sounded great! The initial process went well and I got my check in just over a week. It wasn't until 2 months after I received a letter from Loan to Learn, the same they sent my cosigner. This letter stated that I owed $139 dollars on my $10,000 student loan. I had specifically asked the sales rep when I first phoned Loan to Learn if deferred payment was an option, and was told "yes"! This was perfect, I was working so the loan was basically to cover everything my job wouldn't. This way my loan would last much longer. After countless hours on the phone (on hold mostly) I gave in and paid this initial payment. I was not charged a late fee or anything, thank God.

I must agree with all the negative posts, Loan to Learn is not consistent with the information they provide to potential borrowers!

For all of you out there considering Loan to Learn to finance your education, stay away! Personally, I would rather work 70 hours a week to pay for everything then spend that much time in agony and on the phone with Loan to Learn!

Please, let me know of any grievance being filed with Loan to Learn! I have all notices, dates of phone calls etc!

The ever exhausting trials of dealing with Loan to Learn

Submitted by Indentured and Annoyed (not verified) on November 1, 2007 - 4:38pm.

Seriously. This company is unbelievable. Every single time, every single time, every single time I have to deal with Loan to Learn I am utterly amazed at how inept they are at the simplest of tasks, how surpsingly defensive and overtly rude their customer service representatives are, and and how paltry their support services, even (especially!) their online account management "service" (which isn't as much as "service" as it is an exercise in pulling your hair out). Now I am the first to admit that, at this point in my relationship with Loan to Learn I have negative 5 on a scale of 1-10 patience for them, so I really do feel sorry for the unsuspecting CSR who has to try to help me. Because I know that the absolute inability to function as a company and support and assist customers isn't their fault directly. However, I do have a problem with their sarcastic retorts whenever I vent my (albeit unsolicited) frustrations. Today, I happened to mention how odd it is to have multiple loans with a company and not have them connected into one online account or at least linked to one another. Seems like a reasonable, relatively easy thing to do. Really, on the scale of major achievements by a company, I'd rate this about on par with putting paper towels in the bathrooms. Anyway, I digress. The person I talked to actually said to me "Um, that's called CONSOLIDATON ma'am and you haven't done that yet". I really wanted to scream, No, actually, "son" it's not called consolidation, it's called linking two separate accounts with two separate account numbers and two separate payment dates into one easy to log-on-to and manage online account. Dipsh*t. Then he says to me, "well people have more accounts than you do and somehow they manage to log onto all of them, I don't see what the big deal is". Because clearly, other forcing other people to endure your lack of organization and then citing it as supporting evidence is the solution.

I have a large amount of money out in student loans and have worked my entire college career with studen loan lenders. No one is perfect, but as someone who has had comparatively great experience with other lenders I will say it again: Loan to Learn is the absolute worst company I ahve ever had to deal with, under any circumstances. Bar. Stinking. None.

Why are you surprised?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 5, 2007 - 12:03am.

This post (above) was posted on 11/1/07, and at this point there are about 12 people in the company trying desperately to hold it together enough to make potential idiot investors think it's a sweetheart of a deal. They have neither the ability nor the interest in actually performing any "service" to the customer.

Most of them are busily sending resumes around trying to figure out where they are going to land when this Titanic of a company finally slips beneath the surface, the rest are in it until she can pawn the company off on some poor unsuspecting soul.

I pity anyone who buys this particular pig-in-a-poke.

Loan to Learn

Submitted by #&*%&(# (not verified) on November 13, 2007 - 10:32am.

I worked at Loan to Learn for about a year. Everything said above is 100% true. When I first joined the company, I bought into their vision of providing "customer delight" and thought I was actually helping students who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford college. But as time passed, I realized that this was not a "not for profit" company as it positions itself. We were selling loans with 16% interest rates. How is that truly helping students when they can get a loan from the government for 6-9%? We were literally told by senior management that LTL is not "a frick'in bleeding hearts club" and that we were there to make money. So why the charade? Why not just stand up and acknowledge what LTL is -- a bottom feeder sucking in unsuspecting students who either waited too long to apply for federal aid or just didn't know better.

Many, many good people worked the front line there, but were fired at the drop of a hat. Senior managers came and went quickly too. One COO was only there for about a month before he was axed. One agent was given an award for his sales numbers and a trip to Las Vegas, but he made the mistake of questioning the CEO in an all-hands meeting. He was gone in a week, and his trip to NV was taken back. I could go on and on. People lived in fear of their jobs. The credit policy changed almost daily, so one day you could take loans for less than $10K, and the next day you couldn't, and the next day you could, and so on.

Catherine B. Reynolds (the owner for those of you who don't know her name) -- you need to come clean. How about being charitable and actually giving some of those millions you made to students who need it -- starting with the ones you ripped off who are now indebted to you for years and years to come. Oh wait, I forgot. You need to pay for that private jet, your designer clothes, jewelry, chauffeur, and big houses and cars. The closest we'll ever get to you and your money is watching your dear friend, Mike Wallace, "interview" you on 60 Minutes. I bet you even have that playing non-stop in your home as well.

I have a loan with Loan to

Submitted by Danielle (not verified) on January 17, 2008 - 8:39pm.

I have a loan with Loan to Learn for nearly 15,000. Each month I mail in the payment to the address provided on the statement. Each month, without fail, I begin to get phone calls about 10 days after I sent the payment. I am told by the uneducated collectors on the other end that my payment has never been sent. Over the last year I have over 14 stop payments on checks and have had late fees tacked on continuously. I am at wits end, so I decided to pay by computer. I make made my last payment TEN days before it was due and three days AFTER the due date the money finally came out of the account. But I began getting the calls again. The money was taken from my account (physically) now over 2 weeks ago and they are still calling me....Chanel is her name...telling me I haven't paid! Hi Chanel...got your message again this afternoon and you can just recheck those records. I have had my bank fax them information regarding payments. Loan to Learn told me they never got the fax from the bank! As if Bank of America has a reason to lie to Loan to Learn. I have a loan with someone else as well and have NO problems like this. I am currently attempting to consolodate the two. To all students and parents: STAY AWAY from this company.

L2L

Submitted by Jay (not verified) on April 14, 2008 - 1:08pm.

Here is the deal.......

If you pay online there is NO problem with using these people. I agree that the statment comes WAY late and the first time I had to pay by check over the phone, but if you pay it the night before it is due online out of a checking account you will have NO problems.....I have had two loans with them 1 I have paid off the other one is larger and will take longer, however I cannot complain about my 6% int rate.....so maybe some of you should get it together and start paying online and not be late......of course if you are late your int rate will go up.....what did you expect?

come on people....quit blaming others for your mistakes....

Acceptable

Submitted by MIke Griffith (not verified) on May 9, 2008 - 5:02pm.

I have a loan with Loan to Learn. My experience with them has been acceptable. I was approved fairly quickly, got a decent interest rate, and got a discount for arranging to make my payments via automatic deduction. I haven't had any major problems with them.

do not use this company

Submitted by Ashley (not verified) on May 13, 2008 - 12:49pm.

If I went into details it would take forever. I am currently in a lawsuit which loan to learn filed against me. When you call they don't even know anything. They won't send out your statement and when you request them to send it again they tell you to pay by credit card or debit card. I want to know what my interest rate is, how much my balance is things like that. I do not have to pay by phone. that is my right.

Loan to Learn

Submitted by m. stevens (not verified) on May 19, 2008 - 1:43pm.

This company should be put out of it's misery. I'm a co-signer and they harass me all the time. I wish a class action suit could be filed!

Stay Away

Submitted by cmm (not verified) on August 12, 2008 - 6:40pm.

It's true! This company is a predatory lender. My interest rate is 16% on a $25,000 loan. I have been paying $300 a month for a year and guess what my balance is? $25,552.