<human>: A few years ago I made the mistake of going to a private university for a short period of time, which cost me roughly $18,000. (Yes, it was a big mistake.)

Originally, I planned to put the tab on my student loans issued through the government. But when I left the school, things got screwy: the school returned the $18k in loans to the government lender, and left me to foot the bill out of pocket. (Don't ask me why they did this, it's another whole story and can't be changed at this point.)

To make matters worse, I wasn't even aware the situation until sometime after having left the school. Now a debt collection agency is hounding me for a ton of cash, and I make less than $20k a year.

I can't finish college someplace else because the school is withholding my transcripts. So if I ever want to get my degree (which I'd like to), I'll need to save up $18k before I can pay them back and transfer to another university. (Again, I'm only making $20k/year. If I had my degree already, this wouldn't be as big of a problem. Alas, I'm in an infinite loop.)

On the plus side, since the money I owe to this school isn't in the form of a government loan, is bankruptcy an option? Should I consider it? My credit is already destroyed, so I really don't know what other options I have besides making monthly payments of $20 for the next 75 years (literally, it comes out to seventy five years of payments).

Can you provide a brief rundown of the text in within 3 sentences?
<bot>: Owe $18k to school, but it's NOT student loans. I make $20k per year and have crap credit. Should I file bankruptcy or try something else?