There are lots of reasons for this, in my experience. Firstly, entrance counselling is provided right at the beginning. That is when students are at peak optimi

There are lots of reasons for this, in my experience. Firstly, entrance counselling is provided right at the beginning. That is when students are at peak optimism, and most unaware of the realities of living on their own, much less understanding their debt obligations. Secondly, I think students have already made the decision by the time it gets to entrance counselling. This should happen before or during the acceptance process, when kids are making the decisions about which school to attend (and how much it will cost them immediately and in the future). Thirdly, the online system I was in lacked specific examples and calculators to make the thing seem real. If they had given me a sliding bar to play with and see what my monthly payments would be, it might have made a big difference. Maybe not, though, because I didn't really know what to expect to pay in rent or mortgage either.