For you and other comments that mention "you can do it but it's not ideal," you're probably right. There is definitely a "happy path" and a lot of paths that lead to huge debts w/o upside. I do see some value in the experience for people of that age, I think it's a good transition / stepping stone for a lot of people into adulthood, but it would probably be good if we made a point of better explaining what debt is before people get into it.