Hannah Latham, Nic Antaya for BI; Alyssa Powell/BI By 2026-05-07T09:01:01.235Z This is the first story in Business Insider's new series, "Student debt spiral," examining the companies, policies, and financial pressures reshaping how Americans navigate college loans. In February 2024, Ashley Carlson got an unexpected email: "Congrats! Your SoFi Student Loan is 100% paid off." The 35-year-old mom of two couldn't believe it. She had about $55,000 in unpaid student debt , which she'd borrowed to finance her bachelor's degree in construction management. She logged into her account. Balance: $0. "Maybe I got lucky for once," Carlson thought. When business at her architecture firm slowed in 2023, she'd stopped making her $800 monthly payments in full. For months, she'd been calling SoFi, the private company that managed her loans , asking for lower payments or a financial hardship forbearance, without success.…