My gut reaction is it’s a choice. Nobody’s forcing you to do anything. That seems like a self-pitying victim framing, but I might be over-reacting too. If you want the option to not work, then yes accruing debt might be a bad idea. Going to college at all might seem strange if you don’t want to work at all, or you want to retire at 20. In that case, you’re consciously choosing to opt-out of a high salary, which is a fine choice, it just doesn’t actually equate to being forced either way.
I prefer thinking of it as my active choice that gives me a better option to achieve my goals. My plan (like most people, I think) was to work for 45-50 years before I retire, so 12.5 years is a small fraction. Having gone to college, I am enjoying a larger salary than I would have had otherwise for 45-50 years, and in my case my loans were paid off in 4 years.
That's not factoring in time to get the degree and any risk. What if you get hurt and can't work for a year early in your career? The interest on the loan is going to add a ton of time to the lifetime of the loan while you're not working
Yes you can concoct contrived scenarios that make it seem like a bad idea to borrow, this is true for any borrowing, not just college loans. There are always such risks in life, yes you could get injured or go broke or get sued. A cost-benefit analysis does not (and should not) include low-probability events or contrived worst case scenarios. You can do a separate risk analysis, get insurance, plan for contingencies, etc., but that is not part of the expected cost or expected benefit calculation.
Getting seriously injured is not an average case scenario, but there are loan deferments for such scenarios anyway. The interest on student loans is quite low, it does not add a “ton” of time to your payback period unless you borrow a ton and pay as slowly as possible.
I prefer thinking of it as my active choice that gives me a better option to achieve my goals. My plan (like most people, I think) was to work for 45-50 years before I retire, so 12.5 years is a small fraction. Having gone to college, I am enjoying a larger salary than I would have had otherwise for 45-50 years, and in my case my loans were paid off in 4 years.