Is that because the cost for a useful vocational education should be closer to $30,000?

Or are you saying that people with millions of dollars of productivity ahead of them can't afford $100,000?

Starting life with $100,000 in debt compounding at 4-10% per year is a rough start, even with millions of dollars of productivity ahead.

Sure, I think huge student loans are bad for society, I was just wondering what your reasoning was, and I'm obnoxious enough to prod you to make the case that a $30,000 obligation is materially different.

It’s only a $30,000 obligation if you’re making more than ~$90,000/year, and there’s no interest attached.

A non-trivial number of those students would never make enough to pay off the loans. Ever. That’s not an exaggeration and happens in more than 50% of cases at expensive HBCs.

The real handicap is the lost compounding as many will sacrifice saving for retirement, emergency funds, or otherwise use funds that can be invested for long term security.