When I went to college in 1974, the vast majority of my classmates took out loans to pay the tuition. It was a private college too. I was lucky as my parents gave me no choice, "We don't care what you do but you're going to college and we'll pay for it." Pay they did as I went on to med school after graduation. Paid for that too. I know, I'm lucky but they were proud of me. Had a long medical career.

Most of my classmates went on to professional, law school, graduate or teaching professions. All of them paid off their student debt as they had good marketable positions. The ridiculously low interest rate of the time meant that some of them took their time to pay off the loans but they did pay them off.

Get a "basket weaving" major in college and no one is going to employ that type of graduate. It's best for a teenager to take a personal inventory of what they like to do and look at the marketplace to see what job/profession to shoot for in college then study their "arse" off.

And by golly the trades are a good thing too for one who wants to work with their hands. Humankind will always need plumbers, carpenters, electricians, mechanics, etc. These folks and more take care of the "professionals".