Student loans anymore are predatory, and so are the universities. It is impossible to just work your way through college anymore. That is a thing of the past, along with the value of a 4-year degree. Since the government has gotten involved, they are essentially signing a blank check for the universities, who keep raising their prices to hire on more administrators for stuff like "diversity and inclusion" and they'll tear down beautiful, hundred-year old historic buildings to put up newer "modern" buildings that look ugly, because they know no matter what, they'll get their money. Meanwhile, the student is on the hook no matter what now, and
they'll literally send a swat team after you if you default on your loans (and then claim it was for something else). And a lot of students are basically talked into it by parents, teachers, and school counselors, who convince them that they're practically guaranteed a good-paying job if they get a degree, even if it's something like general studies, and that they can easily pay off their loans. Meanwhile college degrees have come to be expected, even in jobs that should not require them, and it's gotten to the point that not only is a degree required, but businesses have taken on the attitude that they only want the cream of the crop (and to reduce the number of resumes they have to go through), so they'll add other requirements on top of it like a minimum GPA requirement. C student? B student? Too bad! No job for you!