The discussion with
@Kiber really illustrates the problem well.
In 1988, student graduates with $10k in debt, and an inflation adjusted salary of $50k. In five years, he pays back $15k, and he has paid off his loans and spends the next 10 years using the extra income he no longer has to pay on loans to buy a house, car, furniture, etc. He's now free to bitch at kids for being lazy in the future because he worked hard and paid it.
In 2018, student graduates with $30k in debt due to tripling of tuition costs, but still earns the same $50k. In five years, he pays back $15k. Except he was generating three times as much interest as the 1988 grad, so he still owes $23k. He pays another $15k the next 5 years, and still owes $12k. He pays another $15k the next 5 years to finally be debt free.
You don't see why this is a problem? You don't think that extra 10 years of having to make those payments causes delays in getting married, having children, buying houses, buying cars, etc? The things that make our economy go.
You don't think the generation running the public institutions and government that were spiking tuition and handing out the unregulated money, respectively, should be held responsible for correcting it? It should be the 18 year old who had to make a Sophie's choice because of those poor decisions of the prior generation?