[klabb3]

Agreed, at least if comparing to American student loans, which certainly come with the same philosophical/ethical "servitude issues".

ISAs seem to align incentives between lender and loan taker better than traditional loans, (although as pointed out not perfectly). More income = more money for both. Most people who are getting training/education likely aims to maximize their income in a 1-2 year time frame.

Now, which one is actually the best deal varies from case to case. If you pay more dollars on average in total with an ISA, that'd be expected but hardly the fault of the ISA issuer. That's just an unfortunate side effect of debt and risk calculations that are true across the board.