Because they are not. If I was 18 years old right now, I'd be going into a trade of some sort. No debt, immediately earning a decent amount of money. AI will push even more kids towards this route.

I'm Irish. The state paid me to go to university, and I've paid it back many times over in taxes.

Whenever I hear about the cost of degrees in the US I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

It doesn't make sense, it's entirely inhumane and predatory to loan that kind of money to a teenager, and there's no way I would ever have gotten a degree if I lived there.

I tried being in debt once, for a far more modest amount than a US degree, and it weighed on my subconscious the entire time.