Bottom line, ...they took out a loan = pay it back. Period.
I hold the greedy universities and the even greedier government partially responsible. They promote these loans. No university or fed counseling suggest NOT getting a loan, getting a smaller loan, working your way through school, or starting at community college. I have a friend whose daughter-in-law, a very smart girl, was astounded at the loan she amassed for grad school. She financed EVERYTHING. They offered her loan for not just for tuition, but for food, rent, everything, and she took it.
I think the government taking over loans and pushing them along with the notion that everyone should have a college education has caused this problem. Shame on them. The government acts as the largest and greediest corporation on earth, and they never have to watch their bottom line or turn a profit. Hate corporations, Bernie-bots? Look to the fed government as the biggest and worst.