When I went to school, I worked so much and was so thrifty I actually saved up some money, despite getting no aid from parents or government.

My friends, who got aid from parents andthe government did not work. They did pride themselves on the very high quality of the weed and beer they were buying with their parents money.

We should not give government aid to people who waste that money. Nor should we have tolerance for people who accrue needless debt during school.

It doesn't just vary with the school - it varies with the lifestyle of the student.

The question wasn't directed at me, but I am against taking a program at a school that you cannot either (a) afford out of pocket or (b) reasonably predict you can afford to pay back, after getting a job facilitated by that education.

That's awesome that you were able to pay for your school upfront. Don't compare everyone with your friends, though. I did work and wasn't able to afford to pay out of pocket. I still cannot afford to pay out of pocket should I happen to decide to go back to school, unless maybe I took one class at a time and dragged it out for a long time.

I agree with the general concept of removing privatized profit and socialized risk, even when it comes to stupid loans.

I just feel that education is overpriced by about %300 at the low end, and a %1000 at the high end.

To me that is just insane. Most jobs do not require all of the crap that you end up taking, they also do not require a 200 dollar book that has information which could easily be distributed for 1 dollar and still make a profit.

The knowledge that we humanity has gained is being sold back to us at hugely inflated costs, and very little of that goes to the teachers who actually connect the dots of that data to working knowledge.