Nowadays 'affording' a 'cheap' state school is guessing if you can walk away with 20-50k of debt vs 50-150k. My younger brother had solid scholarships and still walked out with 25k. I graduated in 3 years and luckily my parents covered the last tuition check and I still had 15k.

At this point I've paid my debts and still welcome relief for students who didn't have the same opportunities as me.

There is no 'cheap' 4 year school anymore. Costs can be mitigated by going to a Community College for an associates/first 2 years then bridge that into a 4 year program but if you want to go for research, engineering, or many other more dedicated programs then being at the 4 year school all 4 years leads to many more connections and opportunities that some feel are worth the cost.

Borrowing beyond ones means isn't always fully understood by a group of 17-18 year olds, especially those who may be first generation college students or from school districts that have spent 2+ decades now losing resources for educating students on college options in order to focus on the kids failing out. For example, many college apps I completed in 2011 needed a letter of rec from my counselor who I had talked to once as a sophomore but spent most of his time working with students on the edge of failing or dropping out. It's archaic just like how the US college system operates as a capitalists dream and not a public service.

In terms of fair, well policy hasn't been fair in a long time either. The 2017 tax bill raised my taxes and pushed a trillion plus surplus back to the wealthy - a much worse outcome for all then cancelling student debt without a deeper plan. It may not seem "fair" to you but that doesn't make it bad policy.