An American, non-resident citizen aiming to do Aerospace at Stanford/MIT/Georgia Tech/UMich

Huh? Not if the parents take out a parent plus loan, or private loan in their names.

Regardless, I usually do not advocate for parents to take out any debt for their kids’ college costs, unless they can immediately start paying it back using cash flow. Best for the kid to choose an affordable school, and IMO if parents need to take out loans that school is per se unaffordable.