That's just not true. “While 39% of borrowers did not complete a degree, they account for only 23% of debt borrowed” [1]

The stats clearly show the vast majority of student loan debt is held by degree holders and disproportionately by graduate degree holders with extremely high earnings potentials (doctors, lawyers, MBAs)[2]. Remember debt is a financial instrument, not necessarily a bad outcome. Graduate degree pursuers often hold a lot more debt, but will become much better positioned to repay it a few years after graduation.

[1]https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/12/alma-adams...

[2]https://www.brookings.edu/research/student-loan-forgiveness-...

I don't think that's true in aggregate, and certainly isn't true when adjusted for population size. The average doctor has far more school debt than the average dropout.

Now, a pause on the first 30k of debt (or any other number under 100k) would solve that issue. 30k was chosen because that number seems to be proposed at a lot as a cutoff.