I took on a bunch back in the early nineties. Big mistake; looking back at what they were offering now that I have more experience, it looks like a great way for the banks to have a long string of people in perpetual indebtedness.

Simply put, the amounts handed out are not supportable by the jobs people can get after graduation; you have to be making 60K plus per year on a moderate debt load, and there simply aren't that enough jobs to go around to the grads that pay that well.