It also penalizes people who lived extremely frugally after college in order to pay off their debts and delayed starting many aspects of life. I rented tiny rooms and cooked for myself and drove an old used car and skimped and saved on a LOT of things to be able to pay off my student loans quickly. In such a case I would be penalized for being responsible. Reimburse all student loan and tuition payers if you're going to pay off existing debt. Your sentiment simply does not account for individual variation in frugality and responsibility. We do not want to incentivize irresponsible behavior any more than we already do.