The Incredible, Rage-Inducing Inside Story of America’s Student Debt Machine

I would imagine the room and board bit is a pretty huge chunk.

I borrowed $30K even though I was working full-time, I just didn't make enough to live. Looking back now, I definitely have regrets on how I "wasted" some of it on things like cable and a washer/dryer, when I could've just watched broadcast TV and gone to the laundromat. But that's the hindsight of years and wisdom that the typical college student doesn't have.

The bigger problem that's alluded to in the story is not how much they borrowed but how the penalties and interest add up, and how the jobs people get aren't paying enough to allow them to make the scheduled payments. If you borrowed $70K and have paid back $50K, you shouldn't still owe $70K. That's just crazy to me.

On a semi-related note I just read where UL-L is charging $1000 for a textbook. An online textbook. Yikes.