A college graduate has faced severe criticism, being labeled as a “loser” and a “whiny b—h,” after fleeing the United States to avoid repaying her student loans that amounted to just $60 per month.
Amanda Lynn Tully, now 37, confessed to never achieving financial stability and disclosed that she hasn’t made any student loan payments in the seven years since relocating to the Czech Republic to escape her $65,000 in federal student debt.
Tully’s drastic move to Prague occurred less than a year after she graduated from the University of Oregon. Despite holding a master’s degree in historic preservation, she struggled to secure employment, prompting her departure in 2017.
“I was never financially stable because I was never taught to be financially stable,” Tully explained in an interview with the New York Times. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in art history from the Metropolitan State University of Denver.
She had been enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan, which would have potentially forgiven the remaining debt after 20 years, provided she made qualifying payments.
Although her monthly payment was only $60, Tully expressed that even this modest amount felt “psychologically burdensome,” according to the Times.
“The payments weren’t even paying off the interest, so it was frustrating,” Tully said.
While some sympathized for Tully, who said she spent her teenage years as a ward of the state of Colorado, many were stunned at her brazen actions.
One social media user compared Tully to the trend of entitled, downwardly mobile middle-class people shoplifting from stores such as Whole Foods, as reported by Curbed last month.
“This is just Whole Foods shoplifting. They fancy it a better kind of theft bc they’re educated elites and their reasons for doing it are more therapized than the average thief,” the X user wrote.
“But if you move to another country to escape a $60 a month payment, you’re a loser and a whiny b—h,” they added.
“The NYT has an uncanny ability to illustrate a ‘hardship’ story with people who are so unsympathetic that I end up actively rooting against them,” one X user wrote.
“I was already opposed to student loan forgiveness and now I’m radicalized all over again,” a second X user wrote.
Another pointed out that Tully appeared to be wearing designer headphones in her photoshoot for the Times.
“She couldn’t afford $60 a month but could afford Beats by Dre,” the X user wrote.
Almost 8 million of the 40 million borrowers with federal student debt have defaulted on their loans, according to recently-released figures from the Education Department.
However, borrowers who move abroad and stop making payments will likely see their credit scores plummet and make it far harder and more expensive for them to borrow money, acording to credit reporting agency Experian.
Tully has been working in Prague as an “E-learning content developer” for various companies since 2019, but describes herself as “open to work” on her LinkedIn profile.
She did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
