I was thinking about people who went to college circa early 2000s, which is the population which graduated into the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Despite the fact that you couldn't avoid hearing the truth about your financial prospects, you also couldn't avoid hearing outright falsehoods from well-intentioned friends and family members. I know plenty of baby boomers who were basically kicked out of the house at 18, paid for college + rent + food + books with a part-time job, and thought that the best way for their children to have the same chance at life was to take on student loans.