It's not just GW, though. I just looked up all the medical schools (non-osteopathic) in my state. They were $35k, $40k, $50k and $55k a year for tuition alone (assuming in-state, out of state brought the first two up to the later levels). Cost of attendance was $65-75k at the cheapest, and the other three were all $85-95k a year. So, if one took out loans for the amount recommended by the schools' financial aid folk, it would be $280k at the cheapest, or $360k for the other three just for medical school alone today. I also just looked up current cost of attendance of my alma mater (which was the cheapest university in the state when I attended over twenty years ago), and it would be another $35-40k a year for undergrad. So yeah, that $500k total educational loan debt brought up earlier doesn't sound so made up now.