system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why would people who could afford higher education take out loans to pay it off over time?

I understand this is slightly political. 

But if I were to take the idea that rich have more student debt than poor people at face value, what financial benefits are there to paying extra interest over time?
gpt
If interest rate on a loan can outweigh alternative investment returns (+ tax benefits of loan if any). This is very common with home loans. 

Also not everyone has 50-60k cash lying around every year for a nice private school. It may be easier to get a loan just to smooth cash flow.