I think the Direct Loan is the maximum a kid should take in the way of loans and it’s very important they know what the repayment will be. There are deferment options too if jobs and budget don’t pan out but, then that monthly amount will be larger and/or length of time paying it more.
It’s a tough load on kids who do not have help from home and do not get the higher paying jobs right out of college. My son’s roommate making a very good salary struggles with getting enough money saved to have flexibility and those loans are no small bite. His grew when he got a master’s and deferred them for several years. Thankfully, he just has the standard Student Direct loans.
My youngest would be hard put right now to pay $300 a month on his decent but not large salary. He does have a car payment which is much lower than that, but the price of having a new car, insurance, maintenance, etc is more than $300 a month. Having a student loan Payment of $300 a month on top of that , and his other basic needs would make things very very tight. In fact, living at home with us, and paying them down, saving some money would have been something to seriously consider had he had those loans.
Ironic to have kids who will refuse to take that option of loans when they could make a huge positive difference, and then, too many kids borrowing unnecessarily, or way too much, stepping out of just those Direct Losns.