CNN:

Waiting tables despite degree

The couple is currently paying $744 a month on their 24-year-old son Tim’s roughly $129,000 of student loans.

Tim graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies. He’s especially interested in a Hollywood career, but has found it hard to land a job there, though he’s picked up some spots as an extra on TV shows. Tim is mostly trying to make ends meet by working as a waiter and bartender.

“He’s a struggling young artist out there. He has next-to-no income,” said Bill, who is 57 years old and cosigned his son’s loans.

Parents who cosign on a child’s student debt assume equal responsibility for repaying the loan. That means late payments can hurt the parent’s credit rating, not just the child’s.

Their other son, Sean, lives at home and is pursuing a second degree. He has about $60,000 in student debt from earning a bachelor’s degree in technology management from the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport.

The 28-year-old’s student loans are in deferment, which means he can temporarily postpone the payments. However, the loan continues to accumulate interest.

Sean is now pursuing another bachelor’s degree, this time in computer science, from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. He is paying for this degree as he goes, with help from an internship program with the U.S. Navy.