I graduated university in May 2011. Paid off all my debt literally a year ago (I just got my bonus for the year -- I used last year's bonus to knock my remaining debt down to a single monthly payment, and then paid it :) ).

There are several reasons I see why it isn't so easy for everyone. One of the easier problems to solve, I think, is that people have become convinced that they need to go to college, that if they don't, they're bound to be losers for the rest of their lives. But first of all, that's not true; and secondly, not everyone really wants to go to college, or is really "cut out" for it, anyway. Mike Rowe has been very outspoken about trade school/vocational school/technical school/etc. as an alternative to enrolling in university, and I agree immensely. He likes to point out that there's a huge demand for welders at the moment, to the point that you can make some pretty big bucks, not to mention that every time I take my car to the mechanic, I second-guess my career choices when I receive the bill ;) The point is, there are parts of the country that are in need of skilled workers, but the people who would otherwise have been eligible hires coming out of a trade school are instead coming out of college with degrees in communications or English, or civil engineering[1].

Another thing is that universities, even public ones, have come to operate like your every day corporate business. "Pay us the right amount of money, and you can be an imbecile and still graduate with a degree". Not only does the graduating class then become diluted with degree holders who are otherwise actually unqualified to be holding said degrees, but the actual quality of the education being given is, in my opinion, sub-par. Why? Because it doesn't actually matter what you learn or how well you grok the material, it only matters that your tuition is paid and you show up to class with your clicker.

The last thing I'll touch on (though there's more yet to talk about, really) is the perception that the more expensive your school is, the more prestigious it is, and therefore the better it is. With a few exceptions, this is rarely the case. You can wind up with a degree from South Dakota Northern Blackfoot Central State University and still be a compelling applicant on the job hunt. Another strategy is to take advantage of the notion that familiarity with an institution is a more powerful driver than actual prestige: attend a public university that has a well-known sports team, and get yourself some in-state tuition in the process (and yeah, the in-state tuition is key here, since otherwise schools with well-known sports programs usually have them because they throw lots of money at their sports programs, and you can wind up paying as much to attend UNC as you would to attend Harvard[2]).

All of these things can combine to produce fresh graduates with degrees in Postmodern Studies from Ivy League universities and debt up to their eyeballs because their parents insisted it was important that they go to university after high school.

University education is an investment, not a requirement. More people need to think of it that way and approach the decision thoughtfully and strategically, or else we'll keep winding up with young adults who take on mountains of debt and piss away four or five years of their lives only to remain broke and unemployable after graduation.

[1]: Not meaning to be mean or anything, but I'm sampling from among my own acquaintances some people who earned these degrees but only enrolled in the first place because they felt pressured to do so, and have since struggled to find employment.

[2]: I pulled that comparison out of my ass and have no idea if it's true. The point is that even public institutions can be ridiculously expensive --- if you're paying out-of-state tuition.