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I agree with the sentiment but I think somewhat higher loans are reasonable.

The rule of thumb that I use is total student debt shouldn't exceed the normal starting salary for a job in your field.

If you are getting an engineering degree, go ahead and feel free to drop $60k+ on an education, but if you are going to be a teacher start looking for grants.

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I see what you are saying and there are definitely certain fields where it makes sense to take on more debt than the $10k-$20k I suggested. I think another factor to take into account is financial maturity. Some people are better situated to handle larger debt than others. I am fairly frugal at this point in my life, but I am not sure I could handle the pressure and the need to budget with an extra $744 payment towards loans every month like mentioned in the article.

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