Thanks , we try . <| sep |> It ' s still a lot of money to saddle a 22 year old with . If I could max out my IRA contribution for a couple years instead of paying debt that ' d be huge for me . Plus almost half of people 2025 have taken student loans , and a lot of those people have way more than 12 k in debt . 30 % of students have more than $ 25 , 000 in debt , 7 million are in default , and total debt is 1 . 3 trillion $. I actually left the country to get my degree in Europe since international student fees were less than going to school in the states , so I finished my undergrad without any debt . Grad school on the other hand . <| sep |> No it ' s not . That ' s your inferiority complex speaking . Ancient Rome . Ancient Greece . The Ming Empire . They all had the death penalty . Objective standards for judging civilizations include economic power , military power , cultural influence , and scientific and technological advancement .