lenocturne, the average student debt is about 29K (see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/average-student-debt_562f766de4b0c66bae595a2c). Debt above that is not recommended by most and can be crippling. These loans are normally take at least 10 years to pay off. Not my idea of pretty fast. You are right that there are many payment plans for federal student loans but the amount you can borrow is usually less then 30K for all four years. Many borrow more using private loans which explains all the horror stories of drowning in debt.