God, fuck all of this! It makes me so happy I've gotten off as easy as I have. I managed to sneak by with a cobbled together full-ride. But that required incredible grades and test scores, as well as being low-income. I applied for the proper full-ride and made it to the finalist round, and they gave all the finalists a scholarship. Full Pell (we did have to sort of, shall we say, misrepresent the truth to pull that off though, but nothing in any way that is technically illegal), and then an automatic scholarship. I'm actually gonna owe money out of pocket for this last year, but between saved up school money and my own, I'll be just fine. I'm definitely in NO position to complain.

The system in America is totally fucked. You're expected to go to Uni ASAP, and unless you're lucky like I am, you're almost definitely going to have to take out loans, and student loans are especially prohibitive, which is wonderful for someone just stepping out into the real world, really sucks. You go into a field that actually fulfills you, and when you get out, SURPRISE! Your degree isn't worth shit, and all the people who were telling you to pursue your dreams are now telling you that you should have gone into STEM or a medical degree. Because we're all built for work like that. And in the end, the people in charge tell you to suck it up, because shit was easy for them when they went to Uni decades ago, and obviously nothing has changed, right?

I'd have a hell of a time with that dilemma. Now that you're free of your debt, you can start saving at exactly the same rate, which could be awesome. But the getting fucked part is a tough hurdle. Still .. congratulations on being debt free. Primary goal achieved.

I'm a working student, so I'm able to staunch the bleeding. Plus the deferment is big enough that I'll have some time to build up funds after school. So long as I have a strategy, I'll be ok. I don't go to a punishingly expensive university, and have a pretty high likelihood of getting a decent job once I'm done.

I'm friends with a married pair. When one of them finished grad school she found a job basically right away, luckily. Her husband covered all the expenses for their living, and she poured her entire yearly salary straight into the loans. She was clear of it in like two or three years. So that's an option, for those of you fortunate enough to have two full-time incomes in the home.

"Privileged" or not, these are real concerns for you, which make them no less intrusive or stressful.

This is a general truth that many in the world would do well to learn.

From reading this thread, it sounds like the situation of the educated poor in USA really is dire. Worse even than the already shitty situation in NZ. So at the risk of contradicting concurring with MikeyC, at least I can say I'm not studying in the USA.