When I went to university after initially working I took on 36k in debt going to a state engineering university (one year was out of state, hence about half of the debt). I lived cheaply, took the maximum number of credits every semester, and took classes - not worked - over the summers. I wanted to graduate in the shortest possible time frame because there is a high opportunity cost to not working. I landed a great job that’s led to a great career at graduation and paid back my student loans in 7 months. I prioritized paying off those loans.
Students today:
1. pick the wrong degrees
2. pick the wrong schools which lead to high tuition fees
3. take too long in university. More fees and opportunity costs.
4. expect the rest of society to pay in the end.
Unfortunately, there are income based forgivness programs that means “heads I win, tails I win” ie if you pick a bogus program at a high cost university and/or decide you want to work somewhere that makes you ‘happy’ society picks up the tab. I also detest the ‘public service’ debt forgiveness programs. Another ‘perk’ of working for the government. Just another way we work hard so they can work less and learn to rely on the government for everything.
This means that you had starting take-home pay of >> 5k/month right out of undergrad.
Who hired you? Where did you live during that time?