The problem I see is that unlike traditional lending, student loans are handed out without ever looking at the underlying "asset" that those loans are used to p

The problem I see is that unlike traditional lending, student loans are handed out without ever looking at the underlying "asset" that those loans are used to purchase. A bank won't extend you a loan to buy a house for more than that house is worth, likewise they won't extend you a $100k loan to buy a Honda Civic because the car is not worth that much. But when it comes to education, it seems that loans are handed out without ever looking at what the borrower intend to use those dollars for. Granted lending rules will be different than physical assets because you can't exactly value an education like you can a car or a house, but you could totally estimate the value of an underlying education with how much that person expects to make in the job market after college. So if you want to become a doctor, the bank will extend you a loan of $200k to go to med school, same with a lawyer or engineer where that education has a high probability of landing you a well paying job. But we shouldn't be extending those same loans to folks that do other things, if you want to learn religious studies, the lender should only extend a loan that they think you can reasonably pay back with the job you will with your degree, so a religious studies major may only get $10-20k in loans.