<p>It should take 10 years. But that’s with a payment of almost $500/month - every month.</p>
<p>But what if you don’t get a job right away? Or you just can’t afford to make those payments at the beginning because you need to come up with a deposit for the place you’re going to live? Then you get permission to skip a few payments until you’re able to pay again . . . but while you’re skipping payments, the interest keeps accruing. So now the payments are over $500 . . . and that’s more than you can afford. So you start making partial payments. And the interest keeps accruing. Now there’s no way you can get it paid off in 10 years . . . and the longer it takes, the more you owe. Now you’re looking at 15 years . . . and if you ever miss a payment again, for any reason, it’s going to take longer.</p>
<p>Sure, in a perfect world, you can pay it off in 10 years. But the world is rarely perfect.</p>