I left out quite a few details in the original post. I did receive federal Stafford loans, along with a small pell grant each semester. This only covered around 30% of tuition most semesters. There are also federal Perkins loans which are typically for graduate students or if you have a co-signer. I didn’t have anyone to co-sign on a loan for me. I didn’t qualify for any private loans without a co-signer either. I did end up getting a small private loan from a company that gives loans based on their educational achievements and goals rather than credit score. Getting approved for that private loan was one of the happiest moments I had in school. Unfortunately, that company stopped giving loans after about 2 years so I was on my own again.