Doesn't that also assume that the input value there for "income as a high school graduate" is equal to "living wages" as well?

Presuming that HSGI + 20K = ability to make $1000/mo payments on student loans is a bit of a stretch for me personally.

That is particularly so when one considers that not even disability (through accidental injury or illness) or failure to complete a degree-- both of which nullify the earning power of a college diploma-- are sufficient to discharge the debt.

This also fails to account for other forms of debt. As Dude notes, parent loans have been rising even faster than traditionally backed student loan burdens have. Credit card debt has also risen sharply in this cohort (something that I find so sad and astonishing that I simply lack words).

Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.