I'm generally all for anything that involves government paying for college, but I don't think you're solving the problem in this case. The problem is that good engineers are expensive. Median base pay is what, about $90-100K? Which the patent office isn't willing to pay.
What you're saying is, de facto, that they should pay examiners more -- enough to be competitive with that -- in the form of student loan repayment. But then where does the money come from, and if it's available then why not reduce turnover by just paying examiners that much whether they have student loans or not?
I'm not talking about employment. It is the 21st century for God's sake, and we have the internet. )) For example, USPTO can setup a review system in cooperation with the top tier schools. Students can serve their country while they are earning their degree.
The patent system can be made more reasonable if we address the problem of bogus patents issued by an overwhelmed USPTO. This would be a step in the right direction.
All that said, if tech heads aren't willing to serve their country, even for a one lousy year, they really should stop complaining about the broken services.
Except one of the claims that I've seen about the US patent examiners is that US patent examiners are likely to leave after only a few years, whereas the EU patent examiners are far more likely to be lifers. Bringing in a ton more people with no experience would only make that much worse.
What you're saying is, de facto, that they should pay examiners more -- enough to be competitive with that -- in the form of student loan repayment. But then where does the money come from, and if it's available then why not reduce turnover by just paying examiners that much whether they have student loans or not?