I agree with you. Some garnishments on pay might be in order, or hold up their tax refunds, etc. This might start to get their attention.
They already do the latter. If you are defaulted on federal student loans, they will take any federal refund.
They should also garnish the pay of the college presidents, administrators, professors etal who took this government money knowing full well that a significant number of their students would never be able to pay it back.
they do that. If they go after people. People used to be able to get away with not paying. Not anymore. It’s treated like any other debt, with one catch, you can defer your payments if you prove you’re unemployed or still in school. Interest still builds on the loan amount.
So, if you’re a Millenial Hipster that can’t find work, living with your folks and waiting tables for cash, you can defer and defer and defer. Then you have people like Sanders talking about loan forgiveness, why would any one of them write a check.