You took your degree in a country with far lower inequality and better inward education investment, and then jumped over to work in a country that doesn't tax people enough to support USA students.
I'd imagine that is pretty good value.
The funny thing is, my student loan is one of the highest out of my American friend group† (although very normal amongst my NZ peers). Unlike the US, there was a lot less much in the way of financial aid/scholarships available, so sticker price was what people actually paid.
https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm
† For people with undergraduate degrees
The friend bit is anecdata.
Looks like NZ avg debt is $28k NZD [1]
USA is $29 USD [2]
So USA is 50% more expensive, on avg (NZDUSD 1.5). IMHO both are a disgrace, but that's another thing.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loans_in_New_Zealand#S...
2: https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/
Perhaps the biggest difference is the interest rate which is government backed and around maybe 1-2%. According to first result on Google the interest rates on US student loans seems to be around 6-8%.
There's fairly decent financial aid available to cover your living costs if you're from a low income family, but that cuts off pretty quickly, and unlike the US, there isn't really a culture of paying for your children's education, so there's a lot of kids (like me) who grew up upper-middle class but didn't get much help through university.
Overall, I'd equate the USD = NZD as realtively equivalent, even though there is a currency difference. The average American is graduating into a job paying $51k USD, whereas NZ grads are often starting at $50-55k NZD.
[1] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensatio...
The US really benefits from immigrants that were trained by poorer countries. I too moved here, my chronically ill relative is still at home.