John Oliver takes an eye-opening deep dive into the horrifying world of student debt

"I'm not saying college is the right choice for everyone, but it should be a choice"
By Sam Haysom  on 
John Oliver presents a segment on student loans
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John Oliver has taken on crypto scams and Boeing in recent weeks, but on Sunday he turned his attention to something everyone who's been to college will know all too well: student debt.

In the clip above the Last Week Tonight host discusses the massive debts that many Americans are racking up by getting a degree, the repayments made up almost entirely of interest, and the call centres allegedly training staff to keep calls as short as possible.

"We do need to tackle the cost of college and for everyone's good," Oliver says. "And I'm not saying college is the right choice for everyone, but it should be a choice. It can unlock a lot of opportunities and be a net benefit to all of us. So it should be affordable for everyone, regardless of what you study."

Topics John Oliver

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Sam Haysom

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.


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