"For me, spending 8 years of school and being about $40,000 in debt was worth it because my earnings now are 3-5x what I would have made otherwise."

Nice. Excellent. But buried in your post is the REAL nuggets of wisdom: 
1. paying for a college of university education without first determining "what they even want to do."  Hunch you didn't do that. And something else: 

2. on-the-job specific training would be beneficial.  Yes, but even BEFORE that comes up, "SPECIFIC job training."  Hunch you choose that, too.  

Size of debt isn't the issue.  It's what people borrowed for.