<prompt> Human: Hey all,I am a 21 year old male who just transferred to university in the state of Washington. I have about 1,300 in the bank, 730 in stocks, and 2000 in the form of a car. When I applied for loans it says on the FAFSA website that the average amount of student loan debt upon graduating is about 30,000 per student. The annual cost of attendance at my school is about 25,000, 12,000 for tuition and the rest for room and board etc. How do people end up with only 30,000 debt if they go to school for 4 years x 25,000?? I feel like I must be missing something? I have about three years left so I am assuming that I will have around 75,000 debt when I graduate. I am also getting some support from my family in the form of about 100-200 a month. What would be the best way to use this money? Thanks everyone  <response>: My wife and I are graduating next week with around 16k in combined debt. No assistance from parents or other family members. It was mostly paid for with federal aid Pell Grant and living in a low cost-of-living area Idaho.We lived in a cheap apartment, ate cheap food, bought cheap supplies, lived cheaply. My neighbor graduated 6 months or so ago with 0 in debt because he worked and got academic scholarships from the school. 