This is what briebrie wants us to believe:

[George II]

8. Carrying student loans for one's children isn't truly their "student debt" as is implied...

...and you're correct that their children would be in their 30s and 40s. Anyone who still owes on tuition loans at that point in their lives is doing something wrong. Lucky you had responsible children.

Back in the '60s when I applied to colleges, I was accepted by some of the best schools in the city, if not the state at that time:

NYU Engineering School, tuition was $1500/year (total $6000)
Pratt Institute School of Architecture, tuition was $1200/year (total $4800)
CUNY Engineering School, tuition was $0
Cooper Union School of Engineering, a highly rated private college with a 100% academic scholarship

No question about which I attended.

At any rate, tuition back then wasn't what it is today. If someone with a college degree is still paying off a student loan 40 years later something is drastically wrong. My first job out of college paid $10,000 - had I gone to NYU there was no excuse for still having debt at 65!