Our Government (Australia) just gives us an interest free loan to any domestic student (it is indexed to CPI though, so does increase nominally but not in real

Our Government (Australia) just gives us an interest free loan to any domestic student (it is indexed to CPI though, so does increase nominally but not in real terms). You pay it off as part of your tax return, about 4% per year once you're working, but only when you're making over a certain threshold (I think it's around $55K). Works pretty well - it can't really put anybody in financial hardship. Doesn't hurt that our university fees are way less what you'd pay in the US either (except for international students, they gouge them a bit).