I could easily see someone racking up that much debt. It’s almost encouraged, as part of the whole “going to college experience”.

You take out loans so you can pay for school, pay for room and board, and have enough money to buy toiletries and what not.

if we take a look a few pretty common public colleges that people from my class went to:

BGSU [1] - ~$28,500/year x 4 years = $115,000

Kent [2] - ~$30,000/year x 4 years = $120,000

In all fairness there’s financial aid, and scholarships, and plenty of ways to decrease costs (living off campus, or even living with your parents and commuting, if you live close enough and have/can afford a car). Or attending a 2 year college and transferring.

Now imagine if you went to a private college (rumored to be a “better” education). An example near me:

Case Western Reserve [3] - ~75,000/ year x 4 years = $300,000

Now on top of all that, remember that student loans are still loans, and as such have interest. So while you can defer payments on the loans while you’re still in school, interest still accrues on those loans for 4 years.

And that’s just for an undergraduate degree. Someone with a masters has an additional two years of schooling, and more for a doctorate.

[1] https://www.bgsu.edu/financial-aid/about-aid/cost-of-attenda...

[2] https://www.kent.edu/financialaid/tuition-and-other-costs

[3] https://case.edu/financialaid/undergraduates/cost-undergradu...