I am grateful for my student loans, which let me be the second person on Mom's side of the family to graduate from college. For me, there was no other way-- I got a ton of grants and financial aid, but the loans let me go to a top-tier school where I did very well. I wound up living in some pretty tiny apartments until the loans were paid off, and I very carefully maintained my 15-year-old car, and I paid them all off early because I plowed every extra cent back into the principal. You will have to talk to an actual human being to do this, but it's totally doable.
