"Pay it off at $500/month (and think of what jobs you are likely to get before taking on a debt)or $6K a year and gone in 5 years. I am assuming a takehome pay of $1500/month and being able to live as a single person on $1000 a month, which I don't know why a healthy person could not." mg

Good god. I realize that you are posting that only as one scenario among many but this one is seriously flawed.

$500 a month repayment? With take-home pay at $1500 (good luck!), what about rent, utilities and food? When rent alone will cost you somewhere between $600 and $1300 a month? Frankly, $50.00 is more realistic.