At what point does amount of debt overweigh benefits?

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That’s true, and I didn’t say or imply that they were if you read my post. The point I was trying to make was that there are a number of options for federally backed loans to defer or reduce payments, including loan forgiveness under several different conditions. So a person who is carrying $20,000 in Stafford loans who wants to go to grad school is going to be able to put those loans into deferment status; a person who is carrying that sort of load but can’t find a job is going to able to arrange for an income-based payment schedule, etc. Private bank loans don’t have those protections.</p>