[thepompano]

> The only responsible party here (i.e., the party you can count on) is yourself.

Agreed, but to that point, I'd imagine that the primary consumers of student loans are people in their late-teens who are on-the-whole less financially responsible than homeowners. And for a lot of those people, they're under a lot of social pressure to go to college despite the fact that it's a gamble that might not pay off.

[theli0nheart]

Completely agree. This is a problem of education, upbringing, and society. If we really wanted to solve this problem, we'd address the root issue, and adolescents would understand that college isn't required or expected to be a functioning and productive member of society.