[analog31]

So the jobs of the past will determine the funding of the future. This must be some new kind of economic planning.

Wait, no it's not. It's how economic planning always worked. It's summed up by the saying "The generals are always preparing to fight the last war." The university near my house is just putting the finishing touches on a building to house the new Data Science program, that was started a few years ago.

[Bratmon]

If the future labor market is so unpredictable that we literally know nothing about it, then we really shouldn't be giving out student loans.

[analog31]

We don't know literally nothing. For instance we know which college majors are favored politically, and which ones are popular. /s Or we can survey high school students. They are probably closer to the reality of the job market than the economic planners.

Anecdote: My kids were in the regional youth orchestra, and every year at the last concert of the season, the program included a bio of every graduating senior, including their future plans. The hottest major was computer science, followed by biochemistry and engineering. These kids knew exactly which majors the economic planners would have chosen for them.

But I agree. Student loans were a band-aid on a system that could have just as effectively subsidized college education directly.