I submitted this earlier today. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22211654 Lots of misconceptions about student loans out there. Half of all debt out there is for graduate school, and most of those students don't have too much trouble paying it off.
Yes, you can make a lot of money without a degree, but not for every profession. And not everyone can teach themselves do to the thing they want to do. You're not going to be able to become a veterinarian, or a psychologist, or an economist without going to college and probably incurring some debt.
Edit: I personally never had any student loans, and while I am a developer now, I didn't study that seriously in school (I took one CS course that I did poorly in). I still think college has made me a better engineer.
I was very interested in chemistry, and thought I would study that - because you can’t be an organic chemist without a degree.
Then I saw the loans, and switched interest to computer science and programming.
Nobody is forcing you into a particular career, just switch, the definition of intelligence is general adaptability.
Shouldering yourself with hundreds of thousands in debt when you’ve never even had a job before is stupid. Period.
You might say, “are all doctors stupid?” And I would say they are not stupid, but the action of crippling yourself with debt is stupid.
I have friends who are doctors, who are 30, still laden with debt, living in tiny apartments and working 70 hours a week, and they hate it. If you ask them now “is it worth it” the answer is a resounding no. But they are in too deep now, they are a slave to their debt.
OK, don't take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. Very few people will ever be forced to consider doing that because 1) they can choose to go to a cheaper school or 2) even very "expensive" private schools offer generous financial aid packages that should make debt manageable.
If you choices are 1) take $30K in student loans to pursue a career you're interested in/go to a school that will set you up for a promising future, or 2) teach yourself how to become a software engineer even if you're not interested in it or well suited for it, then I'd advise people to go for #1 every time.
Yes, you can make a lot of money without a degree, but not for every profession. And not everyone can teach themselves do to the thing they want to do. You're not going to be able to become a veterinarian, or a psychologist, or an economist without going to college and probably incurring some debt.
Edit: I personally never had any student loans, and while I am a developer now, I didn't study that seriously in school (I took one CS course that I did poorly in). I still think college has made me a better engineer.