This gap in knowledge is reinforced by the limited emphasis on financial literacy in American high schools. Students are carefully guided through college applications, essays, and standardized testing yet often receive little instruction on how loans work, how interest accrues, or how to evaluate debt relative to income. As a result, student borrowing is often treated as routine and manageable at the outset, even though its consequences can prove inescapable later.
When young people are asked to make one of the largest financial decisions of their lives without the tools to assess it, confusion is almost inevitable. Until families, schools, and policymakers are willing to discuss higher education in concrete financial terms, including its costs, risks, and realistic returns, student borrowing will continue to be driven more by faith than by calculation. Reintroducing basic financial reasoning into the college decision would not diminish the value of education, but it would force more honest decisionmaking around a choice long insulated from scrutiny.