There are subsidized (or ubsubsidized I forget which term) loans available in which the government pays the interest while the student is still in school, but the amount of these loans is very limited. These loans are also based on how long a student has been in school, and income.
I began school at a community college with an education roughly equivalent to a high school freshmen (MAYBE a sophomore in non-science classes). I received about 2600$ per year in government-sponsored loans. My total tuition at community college was roughly 6000$ per year. Back then, I had money and paid the remainder out of my pocket.
2.5 years after I began community college, I'm now moving into my junior year at a university. I just got my financial aid package with a total of 10,000$ (5500 in government-sponsored loans, 1500 scholarship, 500 grant, and 2500 in work-study) in aid. Total yearly tuition is roughly 13,000. If I take the work-study (likely not as I already work 30 hours a week), I'm still looking at taking 3,000 in not-so-great interest rate loans from a bank.
This is the first year I've been bumped up to 5,500 in government loans, and also the first time I've been awarded a scholarship by the Physics Department here. My current debt is around 23,000 total. I fully expect to graduate with 45-60k in loans, which varies based on whether or not I spend an extra year for a Mathematics degree.
Also mind you I do not live on-campus and pay my own living expenses out of pocket. I budget my money in a sense that I need to make atleast 1000$ monthly to avoid being homeless, and while living and spending rather conservatively. If I make more, great I can actually go out for a change, but the minimum is 1000$.
As for living at home and paying off "large" loans, well, that option isn't always available. I've been financially independent for a long time.
The way I look at things is that even if something absolutely catastrophic happens, people can take away all of my possessions and ruin my credit, but they will never ever be able to take away my education. That is all that truly matters to me.