Question about paying Tuition Fees and Student Loan

Ok so, soon I'm going to Uni. When I was initially was trying to decide between Uni and Apprenticeship, I expressed to my parents that my only concern about Uni was student debt. However my dad said he's prepared to pay fully for my tuition fees, so I don't have any student debt - I felt kind of guilty about that, but mum says we're doing alright financially, so it's fine.

However the things is that recently my friend has been talking to me about student loans and when I explained that my dad would pay, he still suggested that a student loan would be the better option and I understand what he means.

He explained to me that I'd pay back bit of money every month depending on what I earn and then after 30 years the rest will be cleared. And that most people who get a student loan don't pay back the full thing.

So chances are it would work out financially better for our family to get a student loan than for my dad to pay the full tuition fees and not get a loan. Am I correct in saying this? And therefore is it a better option to get a student loan?