<prompt> Human: I was genuinely surprised at how much harder it is to get a mortgage than student loans. The reason it surprises me is that students loans are given out way to easily. There is hardly any oversight in the process. If we break it down:Student LoansYou fill out applications like the FAFSA to see how much federal loan money you qualify for. Any amount you need over those federal qualifications can come from a private lender. I dont remember getting any credit checks, income checks, or anything. It was the easiest process ever. No education on the interest rates. No education on the difference between subsidized and un-subsidized loans. 18 year old me could take our hundreds of thousands of dollars with zero financial knowledge, no credit, no income, and no auditing into what type of degree I was going to get.And then on top of that... as soon as you go to orientation for your first day, there are credit card vendors just sitting outside matriculation just waiting to get you signed up for a credit card.It feels so much like predatory lending.MortgageFill out a mortgage application. Fill out an application to purchase a home. Credit checks. Background checks. Send in pay stubs proving income. Send in all bank account information. Send in tax information. Prove education. Prove employment. Document any gift money. Document all assets. More paperwork. More discussion. Have to have house appraised to make sure youre not taking out too much mortgage. Limits to the loan amounts. Prove you have home insurance. Prove you can afford it.QuestionEven if the amounts were the same, say 100,000 for a home or 100,000 for student loans... why is the process between these two things so different? Shouldnt there be more oversight in the process of lending student loans?  <response>: Student loans are often backed by the federal government and are often more difficult to discharge in bankruptcy, so the lenders risk is reduced. 