A California woman’s massive student loan debt is making waves on social media after she shared a video of the total amount paid and remaining balance. Despite being a physician’s assistant and “make good money,” she argues to her audience how unreasonable this is and how she managed to accrue so much debt.
“I owe a mortgage amount in student loans,” says TikToker user Leila.the.pa (Leila). She then shows her current balance of student debt, as well as what she’s already paid. So far, what she’s paid is staggering enough—a whopping $166,000. But the remaining balance is even worse at $221,000. Where did she start? With an initial loan of $96,000!
According to Leila, even though she is paid well, “That good money is still not enough to pay this.” She explains that she worked for a non-profit hospital, and was going to for at least 10 years, before applying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. She even had it verified by HR that she would qualify, too.
Furthermore, Leila’s colleagues are also in the same boat, and have does the legwork of filling out the form and are “working towards loan forgiveness.” However, Leila claims she, for some reason, is hitting a roadblock. “I did it literally eight times,” Leila says in her TikTok video, referring to the number of times she applied for loan forgiveness. She was denied every single time, despite working for the same company as her coworkers.
After getting in touch with the Department of Education, she claims they told her there was a “glitch” and that they couldn’t help her. When Leila inquired about her loan’s forbearance status, it was the same response. That’s particularly frustrating because it also means she can’t apply for loan forgiveness, so she’s just spinning her wheels in the mud.
“I am running backwards at this point,” Leila says. “I don’t think I’m ever going to pay this off in my lifetime.” She calls out Mohela, the company that handles her loan, for pulling a similar tactic on other people.
Online Reaction to Leila’s Student Loans
Not only were people on TikTok astonished with how much Leila has in student debt, many were insisting she seek a lawyer. Others commented in solidarity, while others were more than happy to bash the concept of student loans altogether. “Compounding interest on student loans should be illegal,” wrote one viewer. “No, no, no. Get a lawyer. Please. This is insane,” wrote another.
One TikTok user shared that this isn’t an isolated incident, that it’s happened to her, and that Mohela is being sued. “Get a lawyer. This is a breach of contract and your loan will be discharged,” they urged. There are, in fact, charges filed against Mohela for loan mismanagement, and it is currently ongoing.
Some viewers argued that student loans shouldn’t even be a thing. As one TikTok user put it: “Student loans are the modern form of indentured servitude.” With how much Leila has to pay yet, she could be paying it off for years to come. That comparison tracks.
It’s clear from the comments, people aren’t too happy about having to pay so much just to get an education. To Leila’s viewers, the whole concept is extremely predatory, and many would rather see students have their loans forgiven.
