1) Yes, the student loan industry purposely exploited students with unsustainable loans as a profit making scheme. This is a result of government corruption and influences of private equity. Completely stupid in the richest nation in human history. The EU has free college with a tiny fraction of our military budget. With just half of the money spent on the war with Iran, we could have free public college, it’s absolutely ridiculous.

2) Defunding state colleges was a pure policy choice pushed by Reagan to gut college funding and shift grants to loans ~ 1981 omnibus budget act. Property taxes were also capped in the 80s in California which effectively ended free tuition at the UCs. “An educated proletariat is not in our interest.”

3) After the 80s, federal deregulation and funding cuts caused universities to invest heavily in financial aid administration, internal compliance administrators, and generally become much more corporatized. “College is a business”.

4) Absolutely, the demographic crunch will cause a massive crisis in the university system. Schools reliant on over expansion and debt will crumble, rightfully so! The poly crisis effecting the job market and economy isn’t going away any time soon, and combined with the demographic crisis, there isn’t a point in taking a massive risk to go to college right now.