I see your point of view but no, my conflict is with the complexity of the situation and the riciculous number of variations in financial vehicles offered as 'aid'- which is a poor choice of words at best. Most schools cost about the same as a moderate house at the end and considering that, I guess I expected things to be more transparent with cut & dry options like a 30 year fixed mortgage and what I have been seeing is anything but that . As a result of my confusion I tried researching what might be best for us but there are so many variations that it's impossible to understand any circumstance but your own more than a few months before you are expected to sign your life away & then with the swirl of change (I'm in it now) it's mind boggling to try and sift through. So I checked in here and am, from the bottom of my heart, grateful I did. Really, I am conflicted because it's a messy, scary, intimidating & binding process not because we are trying to live a champagne life on a tap water budget.
Yes "aid"is a poor choice of words. And you aren't alone - most people get to this point and have a lot of confusion as well as the uncomfortable discovery that someone giving you a loan at a market interest rate is supposed to be aid.
Like others here, I'd discourage an school that would be a stretch in terms of affordability - affordable but with some pain and sacrifice - and do the estimated math for the loan payments to make sure they are the same or less than what you've been setting aside for college all along. That way you know it will fit into your budget - at least for today. And as to the risk - someone is going to end up paying those loans - the only way to mitigate the risk is to avoid them as much as possible.