Every year spent studying you miss out on working at some entry level job for ~25k/y. After 5 years of study, you (in Europe) have accumulated a debt of ~$25k-$50k depending on whether you've had a side job or help from your parents. That means you've lived for ~$10k/y for 5 years, where someone in the workforce lives on significantly more, and at the end you're in debt as well.
Obviously the upside is that you get a job where it is reasonable to expect that you'll be able to repay the loan in about 10 years, but that's something you worked for, and something an ambitious person in the workforce might achieve as well.
Anyway, I don't think you can simply say it's unfair to aid students in their living expenses while they're studying. Obviously they're usually having a great time studying, but they also don't own a car, or a house and instead live in tiny apartments sharing privacy with other students. They usually delay their family building for the entire span of their studies, and often even until they've paid of (most of) their debt. But yeah, have them work some extra in the summer while the workforce is driving their caravans to southern France...
Obviously the upside is that you get a job where it is reasonable to expect that you'll be able to repay the loan in about 10 years, but that's something you worked for, and something an ambitious person in the workforce might achieve as well.
Anyway, I don't think you can simply say it's unfair to aid students in their living expenses while they're studying. Obviously they're usually having a great time studying, but they also don't own a car, or a house and instead live in tiny apartments sharing privacy with other students. They usually delay their family building for the entire span of their studies, and often even until they've paid of (most of) their debt. But yeah, have them work some extra in the summer while the workforce is driving their caravans to southern France...