Imo the biggest problem with student loans is that they don’t assess the credit worthiness of what they’re paying for in any way. Student loans and mortgages are the only two times that most consumers access huge lines of credit on very good terms. But unlike mortgages (which are already prone to creating the occasional credit crisis), student loans don’t assess the value of the “asset” they’re underwriting. You can’t get a $100,000 mortgage on a house that’s only worth $50,000, but you can get a $100,000 student loan on a degree that’s worth exactly $0 in potential future earnings. If you assessed student loan applications on that basis, the student debt “crisis” goes away.