Paying off student loans in a short period of time

When I graduated from dental school in 2011, I remember thinking that my student loan debt of $180,000 seemed insurmountable. My wife also had law school loans of about $175,000. Between the two of us, that’s $355,000 of student debt we paid off in less than seven years. Believe me, I know there are circumstances that mathematically will not allow for “early” payoff of student loan debt.