Student loans are a particularly interesting scam. Young people with no income, assets or collateral are funneled into significant long-term debt that is difficult to discharge, even in bankruptcy. Credit card companies might have tried this for a time, but universities are the ones who really took the ball and ran with it.
It seems to be a corrupt bargain with universities, who can raise tuition and fees with impunity (indeed both have outpaced inflation at least half a century.)
