I'm curious why we treat student loan debt as being special. We don't make a huge deal out of people taking on other debt and then being unable to pay for it. I think probably if anything, what we should have are better controls for what types of degrees you are allowed to take a loan out for. If your degree of choice is unlikely to yield the kind of return that will pay for it, then you should be required to save up for it, rather than getting a loan, just like there are qualifications for other loans, like auto or mortgages which look at both the value of the asset vs its sale price, and your ability to pay. If some kid takes out $100K in debt to pay for a degree in finger painting how is that anyone but the borrowers (and possibly the bank who approved it) fault?
TL;DR -
When handing out student loans, we should consider aptitude (how likely is the person to graduate) & the career potential of the degree as qualifiers.
TL;DR - When handing out student loans, we should consider aptitude (how likely is the person to graduate) & the career potential of the degree as qualifiers.