Education

Many of the subprime mortgages were sold to people who were the first in their families to own property. The underwriters deliberately overstated income and misrepresented facts to get mortgages for the homeowners and commissions for themselves. The owners weren't told about, or didn't understand, adjustable rates and all the other shenanigans that made their mortgages toxic assets. Everyone else got the gold, they got the shaft.

And it wasn't an accident.

Yes, those people should have had classes in finance. When you don't have money in the first place, and don't have prospects for getting much, it doesn't make sense to learn how to manage it.