To be clear, this essentially means if I go through this program and end up working at McDonalds for 5 years, all I have to pay is through the labor of bureaucracy
You pay if you have no job, or any job. Debt has no expiration and is not disc arable in bankruptcy.
It is clear that ISAs are worse if you will be successful. It is also clear that traditional loans are worse if you are wildly unsuccessful.
The tradeoff is the tricky part.
A better alternative that you can pursue today is just to seek education abroad, Canadian universities are a fraction of the cost for an equivalent service - or be careful about the education you choose, most state colleges are very reasonable for in-state tuition and you can potentially save on room and board.
Ivy-league schools are overpriced and a waste of money.
In California, tuition at community colleges is $1,300/year and $5,700/yr for state colleges.
Even the expensive Universities of California are 14k/year.
The real costs are room, board, and entertainment. For example, a shared dormitory room and food plan is easily 20k/year
If we start with other countries, there will be many other catches. Such as personal bankruptcy not being a concept at all in many jurisdictions.
I'll take it.