Are student loans enough to live? Hypothetical situation for a story I'm writing.?

The amount that a student can borrow is limited by the Cost of Attendance at his college. This COA includes the school's charges, such as tuition and fees, but also average amounts for other expenses, such as books, transportation and off campus living expenses. The money is first sent to the school, where the school's charges are deducted. After those charges are paid, then any money left over is refunded to the student and he can then use it toward his living expenses. Whether there will be money left over depends on how much his school costs and how much aid he is awarded. Many students do not get refunds because all of their aid is needed to pay the school's charges. In fact, the majority of students don't have enough aid to pay the bill and need to pay some of it out of pocket. This is particularly true at more expensive private colleges. If a student attends a very low cost school, such as a community college, then he is more likely to receive a refund, but it is very rarely enough to pay all of a student's off campus expenses, so most students do need to supplement it with money from another source, such as parents, savings, or earnings from work.