The video above is a neat history lesson, but the usefulness ends at about the 8th minute. If you have time, I recommend it because it will illustrate how government intervention and bad social policy created the financial "crisis" now in effect. A better statement of what happened is made by Thomas DiLorenzo, Professor of Economics at Loyola College.

I was discussing with someone earlier today that the same sort of social policy applies to college and making it more affordable. The price of college increases in response to forced lending and government intervention. Arguably, the product, a bachelor's degree-holding graduate, has declined in value as a direct result. Additionally, this accessibility leads to a change in attitude regarding such education causing the educated to sometimes feel entitled to the degree as a result of the payments and loans made. To compound the problem, the relative immaturity of college students, most of whom have just recently achieved the age of consent, sign contracts with little understanding of how their current state (attending classes and learning something) is to be paid for with interest by their future selves. They will often experience a significant wage increase upon achieving that degree, but the entitlement attitude coupled with financial immaturity can lead to excessive debt burden because the four-year degree takes more than four years.