This is a cautionary tale of the consequences of defaulting on education debt, based on the experiences of seven borrowers of federal and private student loans. The stories are all true, but names and inconsequential details have been changed to protect the borrowers. Education debt is a necessary evil. Most students graduate from college with student loan debt. The bottom line is that college means debt, since student loans are unavoidable for all students except for those who come from the wealthiest of families. If education debt is evil, then defaulting on your student loans is a one-way ticket to hell. The following borrowers have each encountered some of the more horrific consequences of defaulting on federal and private student loans, in most cases through no fault of their own. The toll is not just financial, but extends into their personal lives and affects their families too.