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What's a normal personal debt / equity ratio for a highly educated person?
What is your biggest wealth building tool?  Income.  If you "nerf" your income with payments to banks, cable, credit card debt, car payments, and lattes then you are naturally handicapping your wealth building.  It is sort of like trying to drive home a nail holding a hammer right underneath the head.   Normal is broke, don't be normal. Normal obtains student loans while getting an education.  You don't have to.  You can work part time, or even full time and get a degree. As an example, here is one way to do it in Florida.  Get a job working fast food and get your associates degree using a community college that are cheap.  Then apply for the state troopers.  Go away for about 5 months, earning an income the whole time.  You automatically graduate with a job that pays for state schools.  Take the next three years (or more if you want an advanced degree) to get your bachelors.  Then start your desirable career. What is better to have "wasted" approx 1.5 years being a state trooper, or to have a student loan payment for 20 years?  There is not even pressure to obtain employment right after graduation.  BTW, I know someone who is doing exactly what I outlined. Every commercial you watch is geared toward getting you to sign on the line that is dotted, often going into debt to do so.  Car commercials will tell you that you are a bad mom or not a real man if you don't drive the 2015 whatever.   Think differently, throw out your numbers and shoot for zero debt. EDIT:  OP, I have a MS in Comp Sci, and started one in finance.  My wife also has a masters.  We had debt.  We paid that crap off.  Work like a fiend and do the same.  My wife's was significant.  She planned on having her employer pay it off for each year she worked there.  (Like 20% each year or something.)  Guess what, that did not work out!  She went to work somewhere else!  Live like you are still in college and use all that extra money to get rid of your debt.  Student loans are consumer debt.