Thanks @tx 3 putt for the data point on trade school costs. ROI on whatever education should be a primary consideration. The liberal arts type degrees do not forbid people from professional success, but thereās a lot more people with those majors that go into them as naive or undecided 18 year olds and donāt utilize those specific degrees in their later careers. The problem obviously compounds when they go to very expensive private universities and pile up debt. My personal anecdotes are my wifeās sisters. One got a music degree from a private university in Boston, then worked as a nanny for 6 years and is now a realtor ($50k in debt). The other switched colleges and majors twice, got a BA in psychology ($60k in debt) , worked as a special ed teacher, and is now going back for a masters degree in education. Neither are paying more than minimum payments on their loans and the second is taking on new debt all because they think Uncle Biden and Bernie are going to nuke their student debts.
The system has created almost limitless demand (āeveryone should go to collegeā narrative + unlimited federally backed student loans) allowing universities to skyrocket their tuition and fees. If student loans (amount and interest rates) were awarded like other loans based value of the asset and risk of default, maybe more kids would choose less expensive colleges or higher ROI majors.