Do many college students pay rent with student loans?

I'm trying to work my way through college without racking up a ton of student loan debt. I've known a lot of students who only work part-time, but live on their own without roommates and still have the money to pay their bills and buy clothes and other extras. Some of them have told me that they have trust funds, or their parents help them out, but I don't know most of them well enough to ask how they afford it. I've also known a few students who used their student loans to pay their rent and then worked in the summer for extra cash. Is this fairly common? I wish sometimes that I didn't have to juggle working full time and taking at least 12 credits every semester but I don't want to graduate with a lot of debt. I think I'd rather be tired and have less of a social life now and have more later. I am just wondering how other students do it.

Do many college students pay rent with student loans?
Keep working, those loans are poison. You'll do as most students do, party with it and buy junk food instead of groceries. You will be paying them back for the next 20 years after you graduate. It's better to keep working your way through.
Reply:i worked part-time but used my loan for rent. i now owe more than £12000. i got my degree 3 years ago and still can't get a job with it. i work part time in a bookshop.
Reply:No debt is ideal, but its really about future rewards and your personal acceptance of the risk level. I couldn't afford college if I didn't use my loans for rent. Its more about what your career will be, what it will pay and how likely you can get a job. In my case, its working out while for others its not so good. It's also about trade-offs and not all or nothing. Could you go for a smaller loan to cover some expenses to only work part time? Any other options for financial aid - grants, scholarships for your school?