I was thinking about this the other day and I got to wondering, why is it that you have to qualify for other types of loans like car loans and home loans, but you can go on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars with little guarantee of ability to pay. So I starting thinking, what would happen if people had to qualify for student loans? In the system that I envision in my mind, qualification would be based in part on the ability to succeed in college and beyond (based on grades, etc.) and the ability to find suitable employment which can pay off the loans afterwards without causing undue hardship. I know that there was some talk around the web this summer because some schools wanted to charge more for certain degrees like engineering because the earning potential was higher. I can’t help but wonder if part of the solution is not charging certain groups more (isn’t college expensive enough), but not letting other groups go on the hook for as much. For example, if a civil engineer has a higher earning potential than an environmental philosophy major, then why not allow the engineering student more latitude in loan amounts since he/she can pay it back more easily. If a student didn’t do all that well in high school but they are guaranteed entrance to their local state school, does it really make sense to let them take out a bunch of loans only to have them cave under the pressure and leave after three semesters on the hook for 15 grand. I’m not trying to say that we shouldn’t allow certain people to go to school, but college like other financial decisions needs to be considered carefully. Just as there are situations when buying a house or financing a car don’t make sense (though they might in the future), the same is true for college.