[voisin]

Education has traditionally been a primary method for upward economic mobility. Once student loans became a thing, colleges jacked up tuition to put it out of reach of anyone but the super wealthy unless student loans were used.

[c_crank]

But no one forced those people to take on those loans.

[voisin]

Not explicitly but the choice is “stay in your economic class or invest in the only thing reliably proven to improve your future”.

[HPsquared]

People basically did remain in the economic class though. The school doesn't have much to do with it. Has class mobility significantly increased since the adoption of mass tertiary education?

[c_crank]

And those who do not want to deal with the risk of going through school and not getting a better job to pay for the onerous loans can just remain in their economic class.

[slt2021]

and why people invested noname colleges with degrees in psychology, english lit, gender studies?

and then act surprised when they get out with zero useful skills

[Daishiman]

No one forced me to not try the one thing everyone says will keep you out of poverty.

[c_crank]

Did you consider that everyone might have been making a mistake when they equated taking on large loans with getting out of poverty?

[Daishiman]

I consider a society in which people are not given sufficient information to make intelligent choices for the future to be pretty dystopian.

[c_crank]

Are you able to do arithmetic?