This shirt lets you brag about your student loan debt

Judy Putnam

Lansing State Journal

Nathan Dunsmore of St. Johns, 27, pulls a freshly minted T-shirt design he created from the dryer Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, during the 2018 Color Cruise and Island Festival in downtown Grand Ledge. His design for a St. Johns print shop allows wearers to display how much in student debt they conquered.

ST. JOHNS – It’s not unusual to brag about your college through your choice of T-shirts.

But Nathan Dunsmore, a designer for Hot Prints, Inc. in St. Johns, has a modern twist on college apparel.

His design allows you to brag about how much you’ve paid in student debt.

In what he calls a “conversation starter," you can fill in the blank about how much in student loans you’ve paid off.

Paying off a $25K student loan debt

Dunsmore, 27, a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design at Ferris State University, said he earned his diploma in 2013. Along with his degree came $25,000 in debt.

He’s been employed and aggressive in paying it off. He doesn’t like owing money. He’s whittled it down by $16,000 with plans to finish it in a few years

Dunsmore’s own shirt reads: “I’ve Conquered 16K in Student Debt,” printed with an anchor image. A ball-and-chain design is another option.

Student loan debt crisis?

A T-shirt design, as shown Oct. 12, 2018, by 27-year-old Nathan Dunsmore of St. Johns allows wearers to brag about how much student debt they've conquered.

A whopping 58% of students graduating from four-year institutions in Michigan last year graduated with student debt, according to a September study by the Institute for College Access & Success, an Oakland, California nonprofit research group.

Michigan’s debt was the 11th highest in the country with an average of $31,289 among students who had debt.

That’s forced a conversation among Dunsmore and his peers far more than any Baby Boomers or Gen-Xers.

Inflation-adjusted costs for a four-year degree doubled between 1989 and 2016, according to data from the National Center of Education Statistics. Getting a degree from a four-year school now tops $100,000 on average.

'Property of Sallie Mae'

That has led to an array of tongue-in-cheek T-shirts tweaking the size of loans and the long slog of paying them off, often without the sort of job students were hoping for when they took on the debt.

An Internet search found some winners.

“Repo my B.A.”

“Debt-free in 2083”

“Property of Sallie Mae”

Dunsmore said he believes his is the first interactive design. It could be used as a motivational gift for new grads to get them to pay down their debt, he suggested.

Dunsmore’s design has just gone on sale at $20 for T-shirts, $25 for sweatshirts and $35 for hoodies.

Hot Prints plans to donate 25% of proceeds for a yet-to-be determined scholarship for Clinton County students.

“I believe it’s one of the great social issues of our time, and one I don’t see being resolved anytime soon,” Dunsmore said.

He said, however, it’s not all “doom and gloom.”

“I have witnessed many of my friends on social media announce their triumph over student debt,” he said.

And now they can wear it – with pride.

For more information: facebook.com/hotprintsinc or etsy.com/shop/HotPrintsInc

Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at jputnam@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam.