My recollection is that Federally-guaranteed student loans (I, unfortunately, had them for part of my grad school, paid them off early and in full) aren’t dismissable via bankruptcy.
These “strikers” are guaranteeing that their credit ratings, and indeed lives, will be f’d for YEARS down the road. Good luck pulling this and getting a mortgage, or a car loan, or even passing the kinds of credit checks run to be able to rent an apartment, or get a decent job, etc.
They are via permanent disability, which has not so mysteriously skyrocketed. At least some people are purposely arranging their very early retirement via SSI, at great expense to the dwindling number of people that still have jobs.