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Most students have nowhere near this much debt. The average undergraduate is accruing $15k in debt per year (https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid/highlig...) That means roughly ~$60k over four years.

Ending up with $100k+ loans is more common when people go onto professional schools (masters, law, medicine, etc), fields that should have higher earning power. Not everyone finishes, and for law not everyone that finishes gets a high paying job.

Over half of all student loan debt is held by those with advanced degrees (https://wcer.wisc.edu/docs/working-papers/Working_Paper_No_2...). Add in that only 13% of Americans 25+ have advanced degrees, compared to 35% with at least bachelors degrees.

Student loan debt is disproportionally a problem with advanced degrees, but it all gets lumped together when we talk about student loans.




15k is aid, not debt. The average undergraduate is borrowing $29,000.




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