Gen Z Woman Sobs After Realizing Her Student Loan Interest Rate — ‘This Should Not Be Legal’
This seems to be a reality for many Americans who are drowning under the weight of their student loan payments.
vladans from Getty Images | Canva A Gen Z woman became quite emotional as she detailed her reality with paying back her student loans. Millions of people across the country are in the same boat, as they struggle to not only balance the overwhelming debt that they accrued from trying to get an education, but also the rising cost of living.
In a TikTok video, content creator Alyssa Jaecoma insisted that she'd been making payments on her student loan for the last couple of years, only to realize that she now owes more than she started with due to the high interest.
A woman sobbed while talking about the absurdity of student loan interest.
"As it turns out, the student loans that I've been paying $15 a month for, for the last two years, have a 17% interest rate," Jaecoma began in her video. "So what I thought I've been paying off for all this time, I'm actually like, I owe more than what I started off with."
She emotionally explained that she owes an estimated $90,000 in student loans, which isn't even the amount of money that she paid to attend school in the first place. Frustrated, she worried that she would never be able to pay it back and exclaimed that she didn't know what to do about the absurd amount of money she owed.
"How does that even make sense? I signed up for this when I was 17. This should not be legal," she insisted. "I got upset about it at work, and my co-worker was like, 'Don't you have a rich relative who can pay that for you?' No, my family is poor."
Unfortunately, Jaecoma's reality is not uncommon. The cost of attending college is steep, and a vast majority of people are forced to take out loans just to get an education. What's worse is that even years out of school, adults are still scrambling to make their payments, despite the sobering reality that many people can't even afford to put food on the table.
Most people can't make minimum payments on their student loans.
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According to an analysis published by TransUnion, about 4 million, or roughly one in five, federal student loan borrowers with a payment due are seriously delinquent. Research from the company suggested that a significant number of Americans with student loan debt are not able to make payments.
It's not really all that surprising, considering the return on investment is nonexistent when it comes to higher education nowadays. The average salary of a recent college graduate is somewhere around $68,000. That's if they can get a job.
The reality for many student loan borrowers is that they simply don't earn enough to pay back their debt. Considering an estimated 57% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck in 2025, the last thing on their minds is a loan payment when the majority of their income goes to basic necessities like housing and food. While some politicians have tried to make student loan repayments easier, it doesn't seem as if a solution is coming anytime soon.
But, when people are actively crying and getting emotional about the fact that they just can't afford these payments, like Jaecoma, it proves that now more than ever, people need a bit of hope. They need to know that they won't be bogged down by these payments forever. They need to know that they will get paid what they deserve. They need to know that they will be able to save for retirement. Education and the betterment of oneself shouldn't come with such a steep price tag attached to it.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
