She borrowed $64,700 to study opera, and has paid more than that in interest alone.
Four generations now share one house outside Chicago so she can put what would have been rent toward the loans.
Marketplace · Fed holds rates, but a future hike is pretty inevitableOne house holds four generations of the same family. Annie Gilstrap, a 32-year-old mother, lives with her husband, her young daughter, her parents, and her grandmother "in the northwest suburbs of Chicago," Gilstrap said.
Gilstrap grew up with supportive parents who encouraged her to follow her dreams. For her, that meant singing. She earned a college degree in singing and planned to pursue opera, borrowing $64,700 in private loans from the lender Sallie Mae to pay for it.
Her story is one small piece of a much larger burden. Total student loan debt in the United States is just shy of $1.9 trillion, about equal to all the economic output of Florida, while one recent survey reported that almost two out of three borrowers have cut back on basic needs like food, health care, and housing to make their payments.
Gilstrap did not have to start paying until after she landed her first job. As she studied, her goal shifted from performing to artistic administration, the business side of running arts organizations. By 2020 and 2021, "I was paying between $1,100 and $1,200 a month," Gilstrap said.
She has kept every tax form showing what she paid in interest on those loans, and the total interest has grown larger than the $64,700 she originally borrowed. "I have debt from trying to be a musician, which maybe sounds incredibly stupid and irresponsible in hindsight," Gilstrap said, but at the time trying for a career doing what she loved felt worth the risk. She did not fully understand what the loans would mean for her life, and she said passing the original loan amount in interest alone is hard to stomach.
So in 2024, with her parents' blessing, she and her husband moved in with them. The math was simple: no rent meant every extra dollar could go toward the loans.
Gilstrap calls that option a privilege that many borrowers in the same position do not have. Now a mother herself, she says the experience has changed how she will guide her daughter. "I still want to encourage her, of course, to follow all of her dreams, but just be able to kind of have the full equation in anything regarding debt," she said.
Questions people ask
How can someone pay more in interest than they originally borrowed?
Private loans build up interest over time, and if monthly payments mostly cover interest rather than the original balance, the loan can linger for years. When a borrower pays for a decade or more, especially at a higher private loan rate, total interest paid can eventually pass the amount first borrowed.
Can private student loans be forgiven or refinanced?
Private loans like Gilstrap's are generally not eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs, which apply to federal loans. Borrowers can sometimes refinance a private loan for a lower rate, but approval and the new rate depend on credit, income, and market rates.
Is it common for four generations to live together?
Yes. Multigenerational living has been rising in the United States for decades, often driven by housing costs, child care needs, and debt. Census data show tens of millions of Americans now live in households with three or more generations.