<prompt> Human: My girlfriend 26 has been trying to pay off her 100K in student loans for the past 5 years. In the last half year or so, she has even been paying 1K monthly, which is double the minimum amount or whatever its called. Ive been with her for almost 2 years now and she just told me that her loans are STILL AT 100K!!! She has been paying at least the minimum 500 every month for the last 2 years, and probably even for the past 5 years. She said she is just paying interest. But for 5 years??? How is that possible that her loan is still at 100K? I have never had loans and I am not familiar with this, but Im really concerned. Does this sound normal?  <response>: If she is just paying interest, then she is not paying the principle down at all. if she has been interest 500 a month for six months, she has paid off 3k out of 100k, which depending on exact amounts, she might still be above 100k or just below it. 