I fail to see why the government choose to so drastically under-regulate the aviation industry
erm??? Really?
With regards student loans you're looking at it wrong. Student loans are for higher learning, the standard of which is well above ATPL level study. The ATPL and CPL/IR are professional courses. You could compare it to bus driving, train driving, ferry piloting. Pilots don't like the comparison because they naturally like to think alot of themselves; the sky-gods that they are.
It would be nice if aviation employers would take the responsibilty of screening and training their own staff at their own expense, but ultimately they know they don't have to, so they don't.
I doubt anybody would drive a train or a bus if they had to pay £50k upfront.