I've never heard of anyone who planned on defaulting on their student loans. Most people go to school hoping to end up upwardly bound in a fulfilling and financially rewarding career, drawn in by stories highly slanted with survivor bias. Many end up in dead-end jobs or underemployed. They don't know anything about who they're competing with in these fields or what these employers want. Kids sign these papers barely 18 years old that will quite likely set them in a gigantic financial hole for their foreseeable adult lives. Not to mention the fact that much of this debt is held by people who had no major reason to believe that the economy would drop from underneath their feet.

And what's the viable alternative? Not going to college? The survivor's bias for people who that's worked out for is even worse!

Sure, people willingly sign these loan papers, but we should also be honest about the level of agency and information the average aspiring adult has.