How student loans have shaped this family’s economy

As a teenager, Annie Gilstrap took out almost $65,000 in private student loans to help pay for her undergraduate education. It was four separate loans, some with interest rates in the double digits. “I didn’t fully understand what this was going to mean for my life,” she said.

Ultimately, that debt has shaped Gilstrap’s career, life, and family. In 2024, she and her husband moved across state lines to live with Gilstrap’s parents and direct more of their income toward debt payments.

“I am very lucky that I have the opportunity to live with my parents,” she said. “That being said ... it hasn't made as big of a dent as you would expect it to.”

Though she’s been making payments since 2019, Gilstrap said almost all of it has gone toward interest. “My income on its own barely even scratched the surface, even living with my parents,” she said.

Recently, Gilstrap started documenting her experience on social media. “It's been very inspiring in the comments to see other people's debt journeys, and remind myself that I'm not alone in this,” she said.

Now, as the mother of a two-year-old, Gilstrap is thinking about the role that debt might play in her daughter’s future. “I still want to encourage her, of course, to follow all of her dreams,” she said. “But just have the full equation in front of us.”

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