"Average student loan balance" is not what I said. Average student loan balance includes: 1) Tons of scholarships, and 2) Non-liberal arts colleges (technical

"Average student loan balance" is not what I said. Average student loan balance includes: 1) Tons of scholarships, and 2) Non-liberal arts colleges (technical schools, professional schools, the scam schools advertised on TV, etc). I also was thinking (although failed to specify) private liberal arts colleges. I stand by that figure. If you're taking out loans for a private liberal arts degree, it'll be over $100,000 and many will exceed $200,000. Edit: Just read that it's supposedly $32,000 in loans for private 4-year degrees. I'm very skeptical of that Federal Reserve figure, since average tuition only for private 4-year degrees is somewhere around $35,000 per year. The Fed also has incentives to find ways to underplay this figure, just like they undercount unemployment. So I'm highly skeptical. College Board estimates $14,610 per year is what students actually pay for tuition only. If you don't have wealthy or upper-middle-class parents, then you'll need to tack on living expenses and books. If you're not wealthy or upper-middle class, you'll take most of that out in loans, which will be well over $100,000 by graduation. I know numerous students who have recently graduated with over $100,000 in loans from private 4-year colleges (no, not me, I graduated over 10 years ago, and all of my remaining loans are from a professional master's degree). I know several underemployed lawyers who have well over $200,000 in school loans that they'll likely never pay off.