Originally Posted by
cradduck
Have a friend who graduated in about half the time it's going to take me for the same degree, but he has $160K in debt that he has to answer to and isn't going away anytime soon. I am working full time and taking as many classes as I can afford for each semester. It's slower going, but no complaints here.
Unless your friend is getting into a career where he's pretty much guaranteed a huge paycheque, he's going to have big trouble. That much debt is enough to bury a single person. It's enough to seriously slow down a couple. Even with a high income, it's going to take many years of frugal living to clear that amount of debt.