The people who make these really bad decisions aren't unaware of the numbers. They're making those decisions for other reasons, like misplaced expectations on their potential for success, or strong immediate social pressures to ignore costs in their future.
I don't know if it's different now, but when I took it the student aid entrance counseling was taught by a representative that worked at one of the banks funding the loans. He started by asking "How many of you are borrowing to maintain a standard of living?" and then went on to explain how it's totally normal, and encouraged, to borrow more than you need. He said it'd make college easier as you wouldn't have to work, you'd have a computer, you could relax by going out to movies when you were done with homework, etc.
Ah yeah, it's different now. All federal loans are now through the Federal Direct Student Loan Program. The loans are issued by the Department of Education and there aren't any banks involved.
There used to be some other programs in which the government backed privately issued loans; that must be what you had.
https://studentaid.gov/entrance-counseling/
https://studentaid.gov/mpn/
The people who make these really bad decisions aren't unaware of the numbers. They're making those decisions for other reasons, like misplaced expectations on their potential for success, or strong immediate social pressures to ignore costs in their future.