Another consequence of not being in debt: we are considering TTC soon (late 20s), which is why I am lurking on this board. A lot of peers of mine want to wait until their student loan debt is under control before even thinking about kids.

I am fully funded, and have been every year I've been here. Either through fellowships, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships. My tuition is paid plus somewhere around 25K for living expenses and full insurance benefits. My husband has a fellowship that pays 32K. Not living the high life, but we're pretty comfortable as young people.

This grad school -- you got a fellowship, right? Because if you're paying for grad school, you don't belong there.

Well, I'll bite. I graduated less than five years ago with parents who paid in full for my private college education (a SLAC). They were wealthy enough that I would not receive financial aid, but not so wealthy that it wasn't a huge financial sacrifice to send us to school wherever was the best fit regardless of cost. I know my parents believe it was worth it for me. It involved considerable planning, sacrifice, and grandparent generosity. The ability to start my life without debt has been invaluable. As far as the quality of my education goes, I received a fantastic education where I had a mentor that completely changed my life, and encouraged me to go to graduate school (where I am now). I think my classes were definitely more rigorous and I certainly received more attention from faculty than if I had gone to a large public institution. The school I went to was very small, and it has a very tight knit, loyal alumni group that have provided countless connections that have served me well so far. I graduated with a set of peers who are brilliant, passionate people who have gone on to all different sorts of graduate and professional programs and interesting career paths. Interestingly enough, the world of people who go to SLACS, ivies, and other competitive institutions is really small, so it seems like everyone is a friend of a friend or an ex or a sibling of someone that I know, but making connections wasn't something I even thought of when I was going to college. I just wanted to go somewhere where I would get a rigorous education. I learned how to think critically and how to write, and those skills have served me well so far.

I realize how incredibly, unbelievably privileged I am to be in this situation, and I have made every effort to not take it all for granted. Since I don't have student loan debt, when I have kids I'll be able to put money away in a 529 as soon as they have a social security number. This is important to me that they have the opportunity to receive the best education they can. I feel somewhat guilty, because I feel like this is how privilege perpetuates. But for me personally, my education has shaped my life so positively, I can't imagine not working as hard as I can to offer the same thing to my kids.

At what point did you say "That was worth every penny"
What did you consider a pay off, aside from high-quality education?

Did they get a great first job just from the school's name?
Did they make friends from affluent and highly influential families?
Other?