All in all, with those added in -- non-resident status tuition plus books, her $2000/mo could be accurate for those conditions.  Wildly inaccurate for residents, of course, but not inaccurate for what she was discussing.

That said, I'm still working on that diary -- almost done!  And it's a thing of beauty if I say so -- all stories and emotion, sweeping generalizations and personal anecdote.  There's nary a statistic in sight -- you guys are gonna have a field day in the comments, I swear!  Dueling statistics at dawn, sir!  I will see you in the comments. :-)

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes