What is the interest rate on student loans? I think these should be reduced to the minimum. Why is it that the interest on cars is much less than the interest on education? That tells us what we value in our society: purchasing new things instead of investing in education.
I don’t think we should restrict free choice at any point. Students need to be advised of what the final loan payments will be and exactly what job prospects there are. But it is up to them to make the choices of their careers.
What we need are high school classes that cover things like mortgages, interest rates, loans, micro and macro economics, free market ideas, etc. Too many students are ignorant of all of this.
At the K-12 levels, we need much more challenge in all classes. Students are bored; standards need to be raised substantially.
The interest rate on ANY loan is going to be based on the risk of lending.
In the case of a car loan, the car can be re-possessed, and sold to someone else. Likewise, with a mortgage: fail to pay, get foreclosed on, and the house is sold to someone else.
Education, on the other hand, cannot be repossessed. Hence, the risk of loss is higher, as you cannot re-sell that education.
And a one-size-fits-all approach to loans, with unmarketable skills programs paying the same interest rates as programs that produce marketable, in-demand skills. Way back when, when **I** applied for a student loan, I had to provide my local bank my current grade transcript, plan of study, and major. They would use that to determine whether to grant the loan, or not. . .