Democratic Primaries

My own numbers: I graduated from school in 1991 with $39k of undergrad and post-grad loans.

I paid them off mostly on time for 28 years, except during job loss and illness.

From 2015-2019 alone I paid around $24k on them. (I couldn't get the records for the other years from the government)

Amount owing in May 2019: $33k.

They were written off as "returned to the government," and I was paying $100 a month in "collection costs" even though no collection actions were ever instigated (no garnishments or anything) because I kept paying on my own. They couldn't be refinanced. My payments during those years, never less than $500 a month, weren't even making a dent.

Last year I borrowed the $33k from a relative and now I'm paying that person back. In 3 more years they'll be paid off, something that never would have happened with the same amount of money going to the government, as the interest, penalties, and fees kept accruing.