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.)

"Delinquency" is a bit of a joke/misnomer since modern lenders have abandoned grace periods. This of course means that they can immediately charge late fees...

This debt will never get paid back, it’s already gone.