“I Didn’t Learn Anything” — Dissatisfied College Attendee Reports Student Loans as Theft

TikToker Crystal Turner (@trulycrystalturner) believes she may get her student loans forgiven by utilizing a unique approach: reporting them as theft.

She discussed this strategy, explaining her point of view in a viral TikTok that accrued over 192,000 views.

"So about two months ago, I reported my student loans as theft," she says at the top of the video. She goes on to clarify that she wasn't stating the loans were a result of identity theft, but actual theft.

She went on to state, "Just them being theft. I have about $30,000 in school debt and since I'm actually the one, it's not identity theft, I'm actually the one that obtained the school loans. I can't report it as identity theft," Crystal explains.

The TikToker then goes on to delineate how she went about the process of reporting these loans as theft. "So the box at the bottom, you know you have to say it's something. So they give you a box at the bottom to be able to like comment. And explain yourself."

Crystal said that she used the dialog box in the theft report as a means of expressing why she believed she was defrauded by student loan lenders.

"And in that box, I wrote that I never knew what I was paying for. Like that has to be theft, like I didn't understand, I didn't learn anything."

She went onto state that after paying for the services of school, she didn't come out of the experience wiser or even a certificate proving that she did so. "I never obtained a degree. And, where'd my money go?" she asks the audience, pleading her theft case.

Crystal explained that for an 18-year-old, being told that she was given heaps of money, without a clear explanation of what her expectations of paying it back would be is a big reason why she doesn't believe she should have to pay the cash back.

Furthermore, she stated that she wasn't really old enough to understand the gravity of the debt that she was taking on. In order to drive this point home, she mentioned that she wasn't even old enough to purchase a beer or join the military, either."

In her mind, her university just kept tossing money at her, which was a good thing.

"Where was it going to?" she asks again. "I wasn't even old enough to buy a beer. You know? I wasn't even old enough to join the military. And I went to the school. 'You get $10,000' and then the next day they were like, 'And you get $8,000 more.' And then the next day they're like, 'And you get 10 more thousand.'"

"And then the next month they're like, 'Here's 10 more thousand.' And I still never knew what I was paying for so I explained that in a text box," she told her followers.

While you may be sitting there and thinking that there isn't any way something like this could work, Crystal believes that she may be making some headway with her theft claim.

"And I got an email today. And I think they're really gonna take off my school debt for theft. So I don't know if any of you guys needed that little tidbit of advice, but ..." she says as the video comes to a close.

Crystal added in a caption for her video that she "was never told where [her] money went."

Other folks in the comments section stated that they were able to get their student loans forgiven after their universities promised that they would find them a job no matter what.

However, since they live in a rural area and were unable to secure employment, they argued that their universities didn't fulfill their end of the bargain. "I put that they did not fulfill their end of the contract because they promised they could always find us a job no matter where we were. I live in a rural community and they couldn't. Bam 50k forgiven."

Another person recommended that college applicants look into a specific type of defense in order to get out of paying for their student loans. "Look into borrower defense … You can apply to have them forgiven based on them not explaining things."

If you're interested in checking out borrower defense, you can look into the Federal Student Aid website here.

Someone else remarked that they actually more money now than they originally took out due to interest. "I have 70k. I was told I’ll make the money to pay them off once I graduate. Been paying for 10 years and I still owe more than I took out."

For others, Crystal's video just gave them the bright idea of having their student loans forgiven using a similar method. "Wait you’re on to something. Bc I signed up for school, but before it started I found out I was pregnant and unenrolled … and still owe THOUSANDS!!!!"