According to newyorkfed.org, as of quarter 1 of 2016, the highest consumer debt, is held in mortgages at a total of $8.37 trillion dollars, with the next highest consumer debt which has been growing by leaps and bounds, actually being student loan debt, at $1.26 trillion dollars, making student debt a higher debt in value than either credit card debt, or incredibly, auto loan debt. In the case of both housing and auto debt, these assets are secured by the physical asset of the actual home and vehicle, respectively, which helps in setting a reasonable floor to these real assets; as regards to credit card debt, although this debt is unsecured, the banks and bank-like instruments issuing such credit, are quite good at it, to wit, they control or have major influence on the prevailing interest rate so charged, penalty fees, how much credit is issued to a particular individual, and most importantly control of credit limits which can be adjusted drastically in exigent circumstances. On the other hand, student loans, in reality, aren't secured by anything, though wages can be garnished, the bottom line though, is that you can't get blood from a stone, so that burdening young people with humongous loans that literally overwhelm them at such a young age seems irresponsible on both parties and ultimately unfair especially to the students receiving such massive amounts of money loaned to them with minimum due diligence mandated.
America is all about making money, so institutions are only too happy to take something that may initially be of benefit or even play a role in the greater good, and then turn it simply into both exploitation of the young, credulous, and vulnerable, as well as gaming the system, while sticking the ultimate bill onto the taxpayers of this great nation. A significant amount of people taking on student loans, aren't even student material in the first place, but with good paying jobs for people without educational degrees being on a long-term downswing, the lure of a "free" college education that will solve all their problems and make them into successful people, is an easy lure that works time and time again. Unfortunately, in far too many cases, school doesn't work out for them, so now their life plans are essentially the same as they were before but with the added burden of loan payments that they are obligated to make good on or try to extricate themselves from.
In addition, there are students that take out loans and do successfully complete their studies and thereby receive their undergraduate degree only to find out that this degree doesn't actually equate to a job that matches the very things that they studied and applied themselves for, yet, they are stuck with paying the bill for their "educational" attainment. So too, for other students that complete their educational studies, the sheer size of their loan commitment is a great weight upon their budget each and every month, effectively closing the door or narrowing such a door in their pursuit of basic desires that most Americans have, which are owning their own home, and/or owning their own vehicle, free and clear.
While governmental officials lead the cheering about how wonderful it is that so many at such a time are getting educated, the end result isn't any sort of salary bump, isn't a country that is richer for it, but in actuality is a country that fleeces the most vulnerable and monetarily ignorant, to satisfy the greed of the money lenders, and ultimately sells these "loan assets" to the government, which unfortunately will have to, sooner or later, take a "haircut" on these loans that simply won't be paid back because the income isn't being generated to do so.