That same house in my area costs at least 10 times that amount. I was lucky in that I had “only” $80,000 of debt from my bachelor’s, a housing situation via marriage, and a career path with solid pay (after going back for an associate’s while working in a low-paying job post-graduation for 7 years). I only finally paid off that debt 2 years ago and I graduated in 2008. I don’t know how a lot of people manage.

College graduates (PhD or otherwise) drowning in debt and not being financially able to pay it off is common enough here in the US that it’s a trope, and likely the basis for this “joke”.

Damn, that’s poetry