I'm ~$40K in the hole after 2 years of college and I'm not sure this is typical...

None.. yet (next year).
I just got the details of my financial aid package today, though, and it includes $5k per year of federal loans.

That $40k sounds pretty high to me.

depending on where you go....~$60k would not be unusual. I have none yet, but assuming my parents pay their end of the deal, and the financial aid package holds up (and tuition stays relatively stable), I should escape with $5K-$10K or less.

I'm over at NCSU; if I had gone to Georgia Tech I'd easily be in that $60K range.

Middlebury, RPI, and others are in the $50k/yr range now, so even with hefty scholarships, you're gonna be racking up debt really fast.

Now my question is how do these colleges expect us to afford this obscene cost of attendance?

They don't have to expect us to do anything. We'll do what it takes to get an education, and if all the prices go up together, as the economy slumps for everyone, well, there isn't much to be done about it.

In my case, I'm attending SUNY Binghamton, and although SUNY is still one of the most affordable options for New York residents, Governor Patterson has been increasing tuition with 90% of the new funding bypassing the school entirely and going to the state general fund. In the end, it's essentially a tax that people attending SUNY schools have to pay for all of New York state. Pretty messed up, in my opinion.

w00t, full tuition scholarship + parents that actually saved money == no debt for me.

Full tuition scholarship + paying all my own stuff with money I earn = no debt. Hurray.

You pay for your own room and board?

I have a question for you guys: did you get your scholarships through your school or through a third party?

both. $18K from the school, $15K from Middlebury College (where my dad has taught for 20 years), and some small amount, like $3K, from a state grant (VSAC) to keep students in state.

Everyone who attends my school is awarded a full-tuition scholarship.

@Kllrnohj: next year.

school.

THANK YOU GLOBAL RECESSION.

No one would give me a loan this semester; now I have to move back in with my parents

I had a ton of trouble getting one this semester. I finally ended up getting one last week, but they wouldn't disperse before my bill was due. I had to call the school and plead with them for about half an hour to not drop my classes before it came in.

Same thing here, except the pleading didn't work

So now I'm probably going to troll this place for another 5 months, or get one of those "job" thingies everyone's been talking about.

Heck with jobs. Just play online poker like a real nerd.

Awesome, all I need is Ultimate Dev'r with too much time on his hands.

This is an unnerving prospect.

Ult: are you planning on going back next semester?