The loans aren't the problems, its the amount you need to take out.

A state school here in PA costs $16,000 a semester for basic food, the worst housing you can get, and general education. Books can be anywhere from a couple hundred to almost a thousand dollars, and during this entire time you really can't have that much of a serious job. The few people who can do work + college are exceptional, but realistically most people can't work 30-40 hours a week and do well in school.

Sure your parents can theoretically help, but not everyone's parents have a lot of money, and worse still, college kids aren't really prepared for entering a life on their own. Nobody is really taught basic life skills like balancing a budget or doing laundry or shit these days. I dormed with kids who hadn't ever cleaned their own stuff.

Also, the 16k a year is for 12 credits, the minimum you can get for full time enrollment. That means you'll spend 5 years at college to get the necessary requirements completed, for a total cost of 80,000 + books, additional food, and unforeseen expenses.

While loans should be paid back, the cost of the loan was too high in the first place, and the payback on the loan is much less than was promised. There's a certain amount of betrayal present, and that's what got people up in arms, not the idea that loaned money should be returned.