The answer, as we read here, is to borrow heavily to finance two master’s degrees that didn’t lead to the lucrative jobs the individual expected.
Would any market lender have financed all that coursework? Someone would have seen the high risk and sensibly said “no.” But Uncle Sam never worries about the loss of capital. The taxpayers can always be soaked for the losses.
I have often made this point, but it bears repeating: Nothing in the Constitution authorizes the government to lend money to anyone. The Founders knew that government officials would be poor stewards of the nation’s capital and wisely gave them no authority to lend. Too bad that the Constitution’s limits on federal action had been discarded before LBJ came along with the idea of “helping” everyone afford college.