Lots of misinformation on this subject. It is a dischargeable debt via an adversary proceeding as part of an overall bankruptcy plan.
However, Congress made the new rules for discharge very difficult to prove up in court and the courts have since interpreted the rules in a draconian manner.
You must prove you made a good faith effort. You have no assets. You have some sort of problem which will prevent you from obtaining an income sufficient to pay off the loads and the problem will last for virtually the lifetime of the student.
Because of these rules and draconian precedents in some cases, most attorneys won’t take a student loan case because it is a loser 99.9% of the time; therefore a student almost has to proceed pro se as a pauper against attorneys for the lenders who are experts in the ins and outs of the legal proceedings. So it is almost impossible to get a student loan discharged.
The problem with the old rules for bankruptcy discharge was that too many students had an entitlement mentality and were taking the easy way out, reneging on their obligations via bankruptcy. So Congress acted.
Good post.
It’s easy to see how a lot of students would go bk right after college (when they typically have minimal assets) and figure they beat the system.
Personally I think the whole deal is a liberal funding mechanism.
Make unlimited loans available to students.
Colleges raise prices early and often
Colleges use revenue to pay liberal profs and admins outrageous salaries
Profs and admins contribute to liberals.
And repeat