Attending university is a major financial investment, and therefore needs to be approached accordingly - what is the pay-off if one gets degree “X” from University “0” at the cost of “Y”. If Junior wants a BS degree in Anti-Imperialist Studies, then the pay-off is a low wage job - then Junior needs to attend college that teaches this subject where it is essentially “free” to Junior.
One other commenter above said it correctly that it takes 12 years to get an 8th grade education today. Guess there is no way we’ll ever be able to squeeze in a mandatory course on basic financial literacy that one has to pass before they are allowed to go to college, or run for Congress.
Dave Ramsey’s Generation Change and related financial education courses are getting into some schools, though not enough. You can, however, send the kids to one of the classes on a Saturday to give them the basics of financial information.
When we taught it as volunteers at our church, some of the high schoolers and college freshmen were stunned. It costs how much? We can’t get rid of this debt with bankruptcy?