The other issue with student loans is that they are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Students are encouraged to take on this debt. Often they are young with little financial sense. So they just keep borrowing and not downsizing their lifestyle appropriately (as mentioned – putting living expenses on the student loans).
The biggest problem with student loans are that they are given to kids who’ve never lived on their own.
Financial education – the basics – should be mandatory in high school as part of the college requirements. Not just 2 years of a foreign language.