I can understand a 20 year old not understanding debt, interest, and amortization. But if their parents are that stupid, I have no sympathy at all.
There’s really an easy formula - the debt for a degree should not exceed what one can reasonably expect to gross during the first year of the first job you can get with that degree.
That’s a good formula, and we should all counsel young people along those lines.
There’s a huge difference, in debt to get a degree in a field which leads to a good paying job/career path, and debt to get a degree in gender studies.