Fortunately my daughter didn’t have a dream school. She thought she could do well and be perfectly happy at every school she applied to.
Loans are certainly available to everyone, at least to an extent. Any student can qualify for an unsubsidized federal student loan, regardless of financial situation, just by filling out the FAFSA. But those loans are limited to $27,000 over the course of 4 years. There are some additional loans, like Perkins,that will add a few thousand more a year. Most parents can qualify for a Parent PLUS loan - the underwriting standards are not particularly high. They don’t check income, debt ratios or ability to repay the loan - they just look for “adverse credit” events. If the parent is denied, the student can borrow an additional $4,000 a year. And there are also private loans available to parents and to students (although a cosigner is generally required if the student doesn’t have sufficient income). Finally, some schools will make loans to students. So many students have lots of loan options. However, borrowing that much isn’t a good idea, and many students and/or their parents are smart enough to realize that major undergraduate debt is not a good way to start out one’s post-college life.
Just because one can take out loans for school doesn’t mean he can AFFORD a school.