Why is American student loan so expensive?

In America, the cost of colleges vary greatly. So one can spend less than 10,000 USD total (all 4 years) for a bachelors degree, or spend more than 200,000 USD total (all 4 years) for a bachelors degree.

Some schools are private schools (which means they get no state funding to help keep costs down) and these schools pass this lack of funding down to their students (higher tuition and fees). Other students choose to attend a school not within their state, so that means the cost will be 4 to 5 times higher because they and their parents did not contribute to the state tax dollars that help fund that school.

But most of the time, American students graduate with way more debt than they should for one simple reason. They don't want to live like a "poor" college student while they are indeed a poor college student. The money they borrow goes towards an apartment they should be able to afford and a lifestyle they shouldn't be living for someone who doesn't have a job (or a full time job) and is unwilling to sacrifice not having an iPhone (and the bill to go with it), cable, wireless internet, rental furniture, frat membership fees, a car payment a stocked pantry full of food and no wants or worries.

Unfortunately,when you live like a professional as a college student, you live like a college student when you finally graduate and they wind up moving back home living over the parents garage because they can't afford the payments on the loans they took out.

Graduated with $22,000 USD in student loan debt total. This was for my 4 year bachelor's degree AND included my masters degree as well.

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Not all students come out of school with that much debt. The average debt for a bachelor's degree is about a 10th of that (20,000). When people come out of school with debt like that it's because they have made some poor choices.

There is a lot of variance among college costs. Cheaper options include city community colleges and public state schools. Sometimes kids choose to go to a very expensive private school that receives no government funding and no support from tax payers and so their tuition is much more expensive. Many students receive scholarships to attend these school but those that do not take out ridiculous amounts of debt to pay for it. The students in the latter category most often come to regret it.

Debt as large as you mentioned is much more common amount medical students who have spend 8 years in school. There are relatively few scholarships and grants for med school and since doctors end up making more money in the long run it's generally worth the debt.

it pays out at the end