I do not consider $20,000 to be an onerous debt load, and that figure probably corresponds well to the indebtedness of Swedish students after the completion of their studies.

That it does. Though with todays weak dollar it might be a bit low.

And just to clarify, the education is free, but living is not. Swedish student loans are for living. They are on pretty generous terms, you do not have to pay anything back as long as you study and after that you can lower your annual payment to 5% of your income (7% after the age of 50), so they are a bit like an extra tax.

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