When I was in school the loans were called stafford loans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Loan

I guess they've since changed to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Direct_Student_Loan_Pr...

They are very much for private schools. There's no real limit on them. They tend to cover the difference between what a family can pay and what the tuition is. They're generally low interest and you don't need to start paying them back until you're done with school.

Since the loans always cover the difference the impact of tuition costs going up isn't immediately felt