Student Loan Borrower Regrets Not Paying More on 'Monster' Debt

One woman shared what she wishes she knew before taking on student loans, and it has the internet reeling.

TikToker @Brendaa.Chan is a physical therapist by day and a content creator by night. However, not everything has been cheery since Chan graduated from college. She recently took to the platform to discuss the many things she was unaware of when graduating with student debt.

U.S. borrowers have an average of $37,338 in federal student loan debt and $54,921 in private student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative. Across the country, student loan debt has surged past $1.76 trillion.

Chan got her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida and eventually a doctorate in physical therapy at Emory University. Emory's graduate program alone cost $44,676 for one school year.

"My biggest regret is that no one ever told me when I was applying for grad school or looking to go to grad school about the student debt to income ratio," Chan said in her recent video.

While Chan said many younger people look to social media influencers for more information, they're often left without any helpful information.

"There are some resources trying to teach you about student debt, but they often throw around financial jargon that leaves regular people like me scratching their heads," Chan told Newsweek. "And it's not easy for younger people to get this information."

Being a first-generation college student, Chan said no one in her family was aware of the student debt to income ratio, either.

"Everyone's sold this dream of going to grad school, getting all the degrees, and then swimming in money," Chan said. "But nobody harps on how crazy expensive it is nowadays and what it's like when you're done and have to pay back those loans. Nobody talks about how just making the minimum payments can turn your student loans into a monster. And nobody tells you that some degrees or jobs can cost a ton to get but might not pay enough once you're actually working."

For Chan, what seemed like a simple university to physical therapist pipeline turned out to be anything but easy.

"I was like, oh, I like physical therapy," Chan said. "Let me just take out some student loans, go to grad school and then come out, make money and pay off my student loans."

The reality for Chan and millions of college students was quite different.

"The amount of money that you have to take out to go to grad school is a lot, and the money that you make coming out is not necessarily enough to pay the loans that you did take out," she said.

Chan acknowledged that some of the struggles she faced were of her own fault. She chose a private graduate program. Tuition alone caused her to take out a $120,000 loan.

"While I'm so grateful for all the opportunities that I've had, I just really do wish that someone talked to me about that because I had no clue," Chan said.

Today, Chan watches her monthly paycheck dwindle under the pressure of her student loans, with interest rates worsening the situation.

"My biggest advice to anyone in your early 20s or anyone at all just looking at grad school is to really research the amount of student loans you might have to take out, if any, and what that looks like when you start making money," she said.

Many students are unaware that they might be unable to pay off their loans and still live a comfortable life.

"The things I deal with a lot nowadays is guilt, shopping guilt, spending money on anything other than my student loans guilt because in my head, if I have money to buy this really cute jacket, why won't I just pay it toward my student loans?"

Finding a balance between budgeting and paying off student loans is no easy feat, and it's a line Chan walks every day.

Other TikTok users were quick to chime in on how common the experience is for students in college today.

"I think that is just something that we aren't taught in America," @BrianneLynn7 wrote. "Our economic education is severely lacking across the board."

According to Aaron Smith, the co-founder of student loan platform Savi, evaluating how your student loan debt will affect you once you graduate is essential, and you need to get specific about what it will look like in your everyday life.

"Borrowers should be thoughtful about how much debt they are taking out and how much they are likely to make after graduation," Smith told Newsweek. "How does this debt translate into a monthly payment when I graduate? How does that compare to how much I'm likely to make each month?"

A growing group of student loan borrowers has decided to ditch their student loan debt altogether, saying they don't plan to ever pay it off because buying a home is an impossible dream anyway.

"I think they are trying to optimize their chance for a better life given restrictive conditions, conditions not faced by the Baby Boomers," Stacy Dervin, founder and CEO of Tailored Financial Planning, told Newsweek. "These generations are willing to work hard, but not if the system seems stacked against them."