Speaking as a student who graduated not too long ago, here's the reality for those who are saying "we should know better": 1) We aren't required to know shit.

Speaking as a student who graduated not too long ago, here's the reality for those who are saying "we should know better": 1) We aren't required to know shit. Pretty much anyone can get a loan for any amount, depending on what school they're going to. I for one borrowed about $26,000 to go to a local technical college, and that included about 2 semesters of classes in a major I ended up dropping. I was never once questioned about how much was borrowed, or asked to demonstrate any knowledge, just sign on this line and you get free money. How many 19 year olds wouldn't jump at that? I'm not saying that's right, I'm pointing out the fact that if I were going to a bank to buy a house or a car, they would demand a LOT more (proof of income, talk me through the terms, interest, etc.) than a school does. 2) It's basically required. At this point a high school diploma isn't getting you shit if you aren't some startup funded golden child. Someone going out into the market for white collar work pretty much MUST have at least a 2 year degree, and most businesses prefer 4 year degrees. It seems wrong to me that we're billing people for what is more or less an essential part of their resume if they want to do something other than trade skills and that sort of thing, and doubling down on that, it seems insane than the debt incurred is not dischargeable in bankruptcy and can be payed back via seizure of tax refunds and other assets. 3) Entrance counseling is a joke. Yeah I know how loans work, I get this money now, I pay it back later. That does not cover nearly enough, and not to mention you can breeze through it in about a half an hour and fail the tests as many times as you want, as long as you check all the right boxes you can get past it, get your loan and never think about any of that shit again. I'm not in trouble personally, I make my payments and I'm up to date. It just drives me crazy when boomers are out there saying "we started out with nothing" and my reply to that is "I started 25k in the hole, I would've LOVED to have started with nothing."