<prompt> Human: When I was 18 I attended an expensive private university for one term. I did not do well there and left after the one term. During that term there had been a mix up with my student loans so they were never dispersed to the school.I received collections notices after I had left the school. I was unable to pay them and the collections agency doubled the debt amount and used tactics like telling me I had to pay in full and they couldnt set up a payment plan. I ignored it for awhile because I couldnt pay that and mostly just hoped it would go away.This was about 10 years ago now. I have built up my credit, make an ok amount of money, and the debt has dropped off my credit report. I, however, would like to go back to school to finish my degree this year. To do so I need the transcripts from that semester of school. I cant get those without paying my outstanding debt.I have heard that paying on an old debt keeps it on your report and Im worried about paying off this debt and impacting my credit negatively for the next few years. What can I do to avoid this? Or will paying it now do nothing to my credit report?  <response>: The odds of your credit transferring after 10 years are pretty low. Check with the universities, obviously, but most credit expires after 5 years of leaving the university without completing a degree. 