In the latter part of the first decade of 2000, I decided to put myself through college. It was a hard decision, as I was working full time and raising XXXX children. I eventually opted to go with XXXX University, and only had time to get a degree online. As I was barely making ends meet as it was, I took out loans to pay my way - in hindsight, this was the biggest mistake I have made in my XXXX years. While I currently have a decent job, unless I am making double what I am currently bringing in, I have no hope in paying these loans off. I am straddled with XXXX private loans ( XXXX through Wells Fargo and XXXX through XXXX XXXX ) and XXXX consolidated federal loan ( upwards of {$96000.00} ). My issue is not with the federal loans - these I will never pay off but the payments are based on my income so I am able to manage ; the problem is with the private loans. The payments for these loans are more than four times higher than the federal, and payback amount is nearly three times smaller. It does not help that I originally co-signed with my ex-wife on these loans, and Wells Fargo is unwilling to remove her as they would have to be refinanced in my name only - which I have tried in the past to do, only to not get approved. These loans make me wish I would have never gone back to college - they will burden me my entire life. It makes sustaining a living extremely hard, getting approved for credit a nightmare, and returning to school for a XXXX Degree something that I would never attempt out of fear of digging myself even deeper. Things obviously need to change! The cost of education is astronomical, and it effectively ruins the financial lives of so many young Americans.