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American Morning
Interview With Teresa Jusino
Aired October 10, 2002 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More than ever these days, higher education means deeper debt for students.
Look at these statistics from the education lending agency, Nellie Mae: College students today graduate with an average debt load of $17,000, an all-time high, and that's not even counting credit card bills. For baby-boomers, it was only $2,000.
So, what the heck is going on here?
In our ongoing look at "Real People and Their Money," today, we meet Teresa Jusino. She graduated last year from New York University, and is facing more than $50,000 in debt.
And we're delighted that you're going to come on to tell us how you got into so much trouble. Good morning, Teresa.
TERESA JUSINO, OWES ALMOST $50,000: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: How did that happen?
JUSINO: Oh, god, well, I went to -- I wanted to go to NYU because of their drama program. And so, it's an expensive school, so taking out loans and getting Stafford and all of the government loans involved was important.
So, now, you know, getting to pay those back is a lot of fun.
ZAHN: So, it is essentially, though, your scholarship money and then the loan that you've got to pay back?
JUSINO: Yes.
ZAHN: It's not so much the credit card debts.
JUSINO: No. It's -- although there is some credit card debt involved. In order to help pay for my initial expenses, I got a credit card. I got a phone call from a credit card company offering like a special rate for college students, and it was only a $500 limit. But what ended up happening is, since I was working a lot of part-time jobs at the time, it didn't pay much. Making the minimum payment was sometimes hard.
So, in the end, I'm still paying off that $500 credit card that I got originally, because of the finance charges and everything. So, it's that, coupled with the student loans.
ZAHN: So, what is your specific plan to retire all of this debt now, now that you are armed with a diploma and a lot of debt?
JUSINO: Exactly. Well, right now, I work at a theatrical public relations firm. So, you know, at least now, I have like a real -- you know, an adult real-world salary as opposed to the part-time jobs at the school library.
But I'm working on budgeting right now. This is my first year out of school, so I just recently -- right after school, I got an apartment. So, it's kind of getting into the groove of making plans for those things and working out paying my rent and making, of course, the $300 a month payment on the student loans.
Actually, that's just one of them. I have about five or six loans that I have taken out. Four of them are on forbearance right now, and I'm working on paying off one.
So, slowly but surely, I'm working out a plan where I can make all of those payments.
ZAHN: You've got a long road ahead there.
JUSINO: Yes.
ZAHN: Any final word of advice for college students out there, who obviously have to rely on loans to get their diploma?
JUSINO: Exactly. Well, I would say put off getting a credit card as long as you can, because that's just an additional hassle that you don't need. I feel like credit card companies a lot of the times target college students, because they know that they're kind of vulnerable to that.
Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have gotten one, because it's just an additional expense. And you know you're going to have to pay the student loans back, so it's better to not add -- to tack anything onto that.
ZAHN: Well, you are a great advertisement for being aware of the pitfalls of accepting those phone calls and sometimes going to those little tables where you're offered a whole array of credit cards.
We wish you a lot of luck as you dig yourself out, but it sounds like you've got a good start.
JUSINO: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: I look forward to seeing you get above board, above water. Thanks, Teresa. And I hope somebody out there learns something from your example.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 10, 2002 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More than ever these days, higher education means deeper debt for students.
Look at these statistics from the education lending agency, Nellie Mae: College students today graduate with an average debt load of $17,000, an all-time high, and that's not even counting credit card bills. For baby-boomers, it was only $2,000.
So, what the heck is going on here?
In our ongoing look at "Real People and Their Money," today, we meet Teresa Jusino. She graduated last year from New York University, and is facing more than $50,000 in debt.
And we're delighted that you're going to come on to tell us how you got into so much trouble. Good morning, Teresa.
TERESA JUSINO, OWES ALMOST $50,000: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: How did that happen?
JUSINO: Oh, god, well, I went to -- I wanted to go to NYU because of their drama program. And so, it's an expensive school, so taking out loans and getting Stafford and all of the government loans involved was important.
So, now, you know, getting to pay those back is a lot of fun.
ZAHN: So, it is essentially, though, your scholarship money and then the loan that you've got to pay back?
JUSINO: Yes.
ZAHN: It's not so much the credit card debts.
JUSINO: No. It's -- although there is some credit card debt involved. In order to help pay for my initial expenses, I got a credit card. I got a phone call from a credit card company offering like a special rate for college students, and it was only a $500 limit. But what ended up happening is, since I was working a lot of part-time jobs at the time, it didn't pay much. Making the minimum payment was sometimes hard.
So, in the end, I'm still paying off that $500 credit card that I got originally, because of the finance charges and everything. So, it's that, coupled with the student loans.
ZAHN: So, what is your specific plan to retire all of this debt now, now that you are armed with a diploma and a lot of debt?
JUSINO: Exactly. Well, right now, I work at a theatrical public relations firm. So, you know, at least now, I have like a real -- you know, an adult real-world salary as opposed to the part-time jobs at the school library.
But I'm working on budgeting right now. This is my first year out of school, so I just recently -- right after school, I got an apartment. So, it's kind of getting into the groove of making plans for those things and working out paying my rent and making, of course, the $300 a month payment on the student loans.
Actually, that's just one of them. I have about five or six loans that I have taken out. Four of them are on forbearance right now, and I'm working on paying off one.
So, slowly but surely, I'm working out a plan where I can make all of those payments.
ZAHN: You've got a long road ahead there.
JUSINO: Yes.
ZAHN: Any final word of advice for college students out there, who obviously have to rely on loans to get their diploma?
JUSINO: Exactly. Well, I would say put off getting a credit card as long as you can, because that's just an additional hassle that you don't need. I feel like credit card companies a lot of the times target college students, because they know that they're kind of vulnerable to that.
Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have gotten one, because it's just an additional expense. And you know you're going to have to pay the student loans back, so it's better to not add -- to tack anything onto that.
ZAHN: Well, you are a great advertisement for being aware of the pitfalls of accepting those phone calls and sometimes going to those little tables where you're offered a whole array of credit cards.
We wish you a lot of luck as you dig yourself out, but it sounds like you've got a good start.
JUSINO: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: I look forward to seeing you get above board, above water. Thanks, Teresa. And I hope somebody out there learns something from your example.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
