My undergrad was about $20k per year for tuition and room and board for out of state and about $10k for in-state. This was late 90's though, so I'm sure its gone up by at least 50% since then. The kicker though is that room and board was not optional. If you attend VMI, you live at VMI, you eat in the VMI mess hall, you wear VMI clothes, and you get VMI haircuts, all of which were factored into the cost of admission each year.
I did not come from a family of means, and my parents weren't able to take out much in the way of parent loans, so a large portion of my college education was funded through student loans. However, I did also get grants and a couple of scholarships, plus I worked summers and on campus in work-study programs. I also joined the Virginia National Guard and then was able to get in-state tuition plus military tuition assistance. In the end, I owed about $20k - $25k in student loans. And to this day, I still think it was worth it. I simply would not be making the salary I am now without it. I financed approximately 25% of my college education and have made that back and then some. I also took out some loans during grad school, but not an enormous amount because my employer paid for a large chunk of my master's degree. I also am perfectly fine with that, because that has also paid off and continues to pay off.
My wife on the other hand took out large loans for her grad school and has since not worked, but that isn't really her fault, it was a decision we both made because of our children. Because of the income that I make, which I absolutely believe was the result of my education which was funded by a combination of hard work, military service, and loans, she doesn't need to work. We're still paying for her master's degree, and one day in the future she will go back to work, but for now, I don't regret either of us taking out loans to fund our educations. Her payoff is still coming, mine has come, but both have been worth it.
