Pretty much all [0] of that applies to the US as well. The issue is that the author maxed out her government-backed student loans (which are capped at $20.5k/ye

Pretty much all [0] of that applies to the US as well. The issue is that the author maxed out her government-backed student loans (which are capped at $20.5k/year at the moment, would have been less when she was in school), and took out private loans on top of that. In most regards, private student loans are student loans in name only, they are much closer to general personal loans in most aspects. [0] Notable differences are that only $8.5k year are "subsidized" (they dont accrue interest while in school), and the current interest rate is 4.45%.