When Alyssa Jeacoma was 17, she signed up for student loans without really understanding what she was agreeing to. No one had taught her how loans worked.
She had just decided to attend D’Youville University in Buffalo, New York, to study psychology. Each semester, she borrowed about $8,000, mostly from Sallie Mae, a private company that gives student loans. By the time she graduated after five and a half years, she owed $85,000.
Looking back, Alyssa says the details of the loans were a blur. Her parents didn’t know much about the process either, so she just believed what she was told — that Sallie Mae would pay for school and she’d only need to pay $100 a month until graduation.
“That’s literally all I knew,” Alyssa says. “I didn’t even know what questions to ask. I was 17 and knew nothing about money.”
Now 26, she recently found out that some of her loans had interest rates as high as 17%. Shocked, she called her mom, but her mom didn’t have any advice either.
Still looking for help, Alyssa turned to TikTok.
“I wanted advice and hoped to warn other people so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes,” she says. “No one ever taught me about interest. I didn’t even know some loans could have different interest rates.”
Her video went viral, getting over 5.4 million views and more than 35,000 comments. Reading the comments gave her the push to take control of her finances. She made a plan to lower her interest rates, focus on paying off the highest-rate loans first, and keep working her two jobs to make ends meet.
The responses were mixed. Some people said they were in the same situation, while others told her to “suck it up.”
“I never said it wasn’t my fault or my responsibility,” Alyssa explains. “It was just heartbreaking to see that I owe more than I even borrowed.”
She says the experience was a wake-up call and believes high schools should teach more about personal finance.
“When I graduated, I didn’t even know how to write a check,” she says. “That’s a failure of the school system. I could have used lessons on loans, mortgages, and basic money skills.”
