Well, as for me, I never had student loan debt. My parents paid for my college, and I feel fortunate that they did so. I realize not everyone has that advantage. However, recent statistics stated that 70% of college students are financing their own college. It might even be higher than that. So, if you wanted to find another partner, say a young woman under age 30, she would likely have some student loan debt also. The question is, how much, and how much is acceptable to you. The cost of college is astronomically higher than it was when I was in college over 20 years ago.

I think student loan debt is okay as long as the person is majoring in something practical, where they can hit the ground running in a good job after graduation. However, if this is something "liberal artsy" it is not really a good thing to rack up debt. I would have a talk with this person about majoring in something practical. If they are a smart person, take money seriously, frugal and have common sense, then I would not worry too much.

I broke up with a guy I was dating because he had many years of school ahead of him, and he was already 28 years old at that point. But he wanted to finish up 3 more years of college, then go to law school, then get some kind of advanced degree after that. I pictured myself working two jobs to pay for all his education and I rejected that picture.

I also had a female friend who would marry men and then drive them into bankruptcy and home foreclosure with her shopping habits. She would also expect them to support her adult children financially. She wouldn't work at all and had a huge sense of entitlement.