I've Paid $18,000 to a $24,000 Student Loan, and I Still Owe $24,000
&gt; Kids are taking loans out at 17 or 18 that they won’t be able to pay back until they’re 40 or 50.<p>This is the big problem. Calling 18 year olds, kids, is basically saying that 18 year olds aren&#x27;t old enough to be considered adults. Either you get the freedom of being an adult along with the responsibility or your leader decides what is best for you and you no longer have freedom. Even more so in her case. Her parents are ok the hook for repaying the debt. That means that they (ages 40 I guess) looked at the contact and thought it was a good deal. Is the author suggesting that 40 year olds shouldn&#x27;t be allowed to get loans?<p>If that isn&#x27;t enough she describes defaulting on a loan as something okay. She decides to fly abroad and just assumes that the loan holders won&#x27;t require her to start repayment.<p>But even before that, she realizes in the middle of her undergrad that the tuition is to much. But she decides to get a loan on bad terms because she doesn&#x27;t want to loose her friends. Come on. She decides to get a terrible loan because she is to shy to make new friends.<p>For poor people, who know how to handle the freedom of being an adult, student loans could be exactly what they need to succeed in life. But for irresponsible people like the author, I don&#x27;t think any laws can protect her from herself.