Isn't it unfair to allow some companies to profit on student loans when others were more prudent and didn't lend to 18 year olds?

All finance is done, of course, with pure equality!

The people who didn't take student loans haven't had to live with them. They had more years working, with better pay, and without loan interest - they got nothing for their decision! Certainly not a piece of paper that entitles the holder to work in a job unrelated to their studies and without any useful pay bump.