She is a teacher and has $120K in student loan debt? Where the hell did she go to school?
I know a couple of teachers in their early 30s who have similar SL debt loads. One went to an expensive, private SLAC and took five years to finish a BA; the other went to a big state school. Both chose majors with limited economic value (Women's Studies and English Lit, respectively). Neither planned on teaching, but 2-5 years out of undergrad they each realized that they were going to be stuck in retail/restaurants forever, so they went back to school for teaching credentials (incurring more SL debt). Once they started teaching, it soon became clear that they would need Masters' degrees (which meant even more debt).
Keep in mind that both took deferments, and both made minimum payment on their loans for years, so the huge debt balances are also due to accrued interest, not just the principal.
Neither is good with money, though the SLAC Women's Studies major, with $140K in SL debt (plus credit cards; her car is paid for) is finally coming around and making better choices. She actually has an emergency fund and a budget now, and is looking for a cheaper place to live near her school so she can walk to work. The wakeup call came when her ex-boyfriend said he wouldn't marry her until she had made significant progress toward fixing her financial habits and paying down her debts. He's since out of the picture, but the message got through. I didn't even know about MMM until a few days ago, but I've already sent her the link. :)
The one who went to a state school has about $125K in student loans, plus $12-15K in credit cards, and is still paying on a 2009 Jetta. She only makes minimum payments, lives paycheck to paycheck, has credit cards, and just assumes it's the fate of her generation to be saddled with massive SL debts and no hope of ever retiring or buying a house. She also hates teaching, so she "treats" herself to restaurants, clothes, vacations, lunch delivery, etc. And she brushes off any financial advice I give because, as a Gen-Xer who has been debt-free for over a decade now I had it easy and can't possibly understand her situation. She's very bright, but holy cow--her willful stupidity when it comes to finances never ceases to astound and dismay me.
I have a degree in education and it MAYBE cost a grand total of $20K. I went to cheap community colleges followed by a local state college and even took some courses online.
Community colleges are a bargain, and I can't believe how many kids refuse to take advantage of that (or are discouraged from doing so by their status-obsessed parents and peers). Where I live, the nearest CC costs a little less than 1/3 what the big state university costs, with smaller class sizes, and if you do well there it's not hard to transfer to the U as a junior, with all your general ed requirements and many major prereqs out of the way. When I went back to school in my early 30s to finish a BA, I took everything I could at the local CC, paid for it out of pocket, and after I transferred to a 4-year state school I took out the least amount of loans I could manage while still working so I could pay most of it out-of-pocket. I had $7K in loans by the time I was done, and paid them off in about a year.