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> I had under $50k debt from my undergrad (international student, double the cost of tuition)

For some perspective, 1 year of undergrad at CMU this year (tuition + room and board) is now $50k.

That's insane. I'm at Waikato University, New Zealand, and we pay around NZD13000 (~= USD9000) a year

Many private-university students receive nontrivial scholarships. And if you study a technical field at CMU you're unlikely to have trouble paying back the loans.

I graduated CMU in May. I have quite a bit of debt, but got a good job straight out of school and aim to have the debt paid off in a year by living like the graduate students I live with.

That's insane. I'm in Sweden, all university tuition is free.

Not only that, also, the government pays for university study.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_benefit

(Though realistically the total sum is only enough for paying rent, so most people still end up having to work somewhat during their studies.)

No, it's not free. It's paid for by the taxpayers.

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