In 2003, I graduated Carnegie Mellon University with about $35,000 in student loan debt. It was a mix of federal mostly subsidized and a small percentage of unsubsidized loans. If my memory is correct, it was mostly Stafford loans with a small Perkins loan mixed in. The interest rate was low and servicing the debt wasn’t a problem because my expenses were low. Back then, a year of Carnegie Mellon cost around $30,000. Graduating with just $35,000 in debt isn’t a testament to my ability, I had plenty of help from financial aid and my parents. Graduating with a loan of about 30% of my college costs seemed reasonable. Today, a year at Carnegie Mellon is around $77,500. That puts the four year bill at $310,000. (that’s more than what we paid for our first townhome!) And what if you graduated with 30% of that in student loans? That’s $93,000! I can’t even begin to wrap my head around a near six figure student loan debt but that’s what many students face. I was lucky to graduate with ...