I read this article and wow, IL is right, who is "Steve?" I am troubled that the guy had his grandmother co-sign the 100000 of undergrad loans--I guess they were undergrad loans?
Why would you do either of these things to someone who cared about you? He presents himself as unusually clueless, but he also seems pretty ethically challenged for a bioethicist.
This article is definitely worth reading as a cautionary tale--both about student loans and being friends to folks with student loans.
Of my three children, one has students loans remaining from his undergrad years at an expensive private college (graduated in 2004) and not sure how much headway he has made on them. He sort of works in his field but is a freelancer. One graduated with less debt as he received a Hispanic scholarship and attended a low cost school. The third dropped out of college freshman year as he was debt averse and said he saw too many people graduating and not able to get jobs.
With first son, I paid in about 5000 a year for him to go. With second, I found and arranged the Hispanic scholarship which was about 10000 a year. Then, I paid the remaining 6500 of his debt about two years after he graduated.
I felt guilty for advising them to go to college, and would probably give different advice today, but that was how I was raised, and with the first, I was still in the mindset of "go to the best competitive school you can as it will pay off later in terms of jobs." It did not work for me and it did not for them.
It did work for my dil, who took out grad school loans in a good field and has a good job now.
I am shocked the guy in the article makes 70,000 a year--I have never earned that much, even with a PhD, so I don't know what to say about his loans, except that they seem excessive, and he should never have arranged for cosigners.