1. Infinite supply of loans. Dept of Ed isn't even allowed to deny a loan to a person.
2. Culture since the Clinton era of "everyone should go to college". Massive cultural stigma for those who don't.
3. Colleges continue to justify costs based on lifetime earnings delta of people with degrees. Sadly, this data is backwards-looking and not indicative of what today's students should expect.
The most heinous thing though is that student loans are exempted from American bankruptcy laws. The gov't will give you a loan, without doing any diligence on your ability to repay, but make it impossible to discharge your debt if you go bankrupt.
2. Culture since the Clinton era of "everyone should go to college". Massive cultural stigma for those who don't.
3. Colleges continue to justify costs based on lifetime earnings delta of people with degrees. Sadly, this data is backwards-looking and not indicative of what today's students should expect.
The most heinous thing though is that student loans are exempted from American bankruptcy laws. The gov't will give you a loan, without doing any diligence on your ability to repay, but make it impossible to discharge your debt if you go bankrupt.