Once you've kicked out those horrible loans, then maxed out all of your other options, hold your nose and max out the lousy 401-K's as well. You won't be in that job forever paying those high fees. It's worth it in my opinion to pay the high fees for a few years to get the tax savings.
Then, when you do change jobs (and most people do from time to time) roll that over to a low fee IRA asap! That's what we did, don't regret it at all!