Re your post 20, I think there’s a lot of truth in that, based upon what I hear about many students using those loans to essentially “hang out” for four years, avoiding the real world.
I read the biography of Peter the Great by Massie, and I was quite struck by the story of Peter’s son, who had neither the aptitude nor the inclination to succeed his father, and was as gay as an Easter bonnet to boot.
His father the Tsar formally gave him a year ( I think ) to shape up and get Tsar-like, but he took this as a 1 year reprieve and went on a gay romp across Europe. Of course, he paid the price in the end.