<p>I really hope kids don’t think the takeaway from this story is “I can rack up $74K in debt and pay it off in two years, no problem!” As jym mentions, this was an older student who had several years of working experience even before going back for his masters, and his current salary is based on all those factors. The main story here is that frugality pays off, which I agree plenty of people have a hard time internalizing (adults as well as kids).</p>