How do student loans impact economic mobility?

Student loans are like backpacks that help students carry money to school, but they can also make it harder for them to move up in life.

Imagine you and your friend both want to be chefs one day. You both go to cooking school. But while you pay for your classes with money from your piggy bank, your friend uses a backpack full of coins that they borrowed from their parents. That backpack is like a student loan, it helps them get through school, but now they have to give back the coins later.

When you finish school, you can start working right away and save up money for bigger dreams, like opening your own restaurant. But your friend has to spend some of their first paycheck paying back those borrowed coins. That means they might not be able to open a restaurant as quickly, or maybe not at all.

Student loans can make it harder to move up in life, just like carrying a heavy backpack makes it harder to run fast. The heavier the backpack (the more debt), the slower you go, even after school is done.