[dragonwriter]

> Getting a degree is no guarantee you will be able to obtain a job that will allow you to pay off the loan while maintaining a quality of life somewhere near "basic needs met."

With recent changes to the income-based repayment terms on federal loans, and if, like the vast majority of loan-dependent students those are your only loans, its pretty close (and, at worst, if yo can’t the repayment won’t cost anything.)