It absolutely makes sense.
I want to add to the comments above. I started out a little below $35k in 03, with $17k in federal loan debt at historically low (2.8%) rates, or about $180/mo in loan payments. My debt was a little below average then, and it is my understanding that average debt has at least doubled in real terms since then, against higher interest rates (I want to say average loan debt was low $20k’s in '03). It seems very realistic for new grads to have at least $500/mo in debt payments. I’ve been making adult money for a long time now and don’t have a great sense of what fresh grads are being offered straight out of school, but just to be on even footing with where I started, the floor would need to be at least $50k…in a small city and more like $70k on the coasts before it’s even viable to pick up a pencil.
Profs need to prepare their students for all the ways unscrupulous and/or “paying dues” mentality creeps will try to take advantage of their inexperience. The op’s example is really egregious. As far as I am concerned product development is product development, and the wages of your product development peers are the gage you should measure your ID wages against.