<prompt> Human: Hi there. Im a current senior in high school and its that time to start worrying about college! Its been in the news, all over the media, and perhaps even on reddit that student debt is a huge problem apparently in the country. Forgive the ignorance...but how? Mind you, Im a high school student with no knowledge in finance, but given that many private and public institutions offer generous sometimes financial aid packages, the cost for college by the time of graduation should be around 20K - 100K, no? Feel free to correct me.If you get a job that pays a minimum of 65k a year with that brand spanking new college degree, you should have no problem paying that off in 2-4 years, right? Given that you get at least SOME assistance from your loving parents, of course.Im not making fun of you for having student debt, its just a problem that I hope to avoid facing, or at least avoid encumbering me in the future.Thanks!  <response>: financial aid packages often are federal student loans. The majority of my financial aid package was and I graduated with 43k in federal student loans. Some were subsidizedmeaning interest was paid for while I was a student and some were not. Having that 440mo minimum payment on top of all my other bills is not nice especially when shit happens. Oh, my cat got sick? Gotta shell out 300. All 4 of my tires went bad? Thats 500. My sister roommate lost her job? Guess Im covering everything for a couple of months. All those things wont ruin me but theres no way in hell my student loans are getting paid off in 2 to 4 years. 