[bpodgursky]

That's a ridiculous claim. I don't think you have any concept of how much people suffer under student loan debt.

It's not "just money"... it's living your entire young-adult life under a yoke. It's delaying (or being unable to) buy a house, get married, and have kids of your own. I loved my grandma, but I would absolutely have traded years of her life w/ me in order to afford raising the son I have now (I have a good job, and I didn't have to make this choice).

(on a related note, my grandma spent most of the last year of her life in an assisted care home after a stroke... she gained nothing from that year, and me and my sister, her grandchildren, gained no closure from those last non-verbal visits. I don't think this is even something she wanted for herself.)

Sorry if it sounds calculated, but these are real decisions people make, and money is the lever by which people accomplish their life goals.