@royalhunter
@AdliQuiBoit
Thank you for your answers. If I got it right, Uncle Sam puts the money on the student's lap, no questions asked and no need for daddy/mommy/rich uncle backing, right? If that's so, I'm not making any sense of anything.
Supposing student loans don't operate under weird BaDIK Universe rules, even if Maya needs money for something other than tuition, she could just apply for a loan and do whatever with the money. Would cause problems down the road, but seems less extreme than the option, so what on Earth am I missing?