Student Loan Debt

Most people know that it is nearly impossible to get rid of student loan debt through bankruptcy.  With the rising costs of tuition more and more people are being crippled with overwhelming student loan debt.  An article by The Los Angeles Times details stories of individuals that have been financially crushed by their student loan debt.  The article states:

Brenda Small didn’t think twice about taking out student loans to pay for nursing school in the late 1980s. She figured she could easily pay off the $20,000 bill — until an injury a few years later left her permanently unable to work.

Her dreams of working in her chosen profession vanished, but not her student debts. Including interest and penalties, the 59-year-old Los Angeles woman now owes more than $39,000 and can’t afford to pay the debt from a disability income of $1,234 a month.

“It’s just unbearable to have that type of weight on you and you can’t do anything about it,” Small said.

You can read more of the article in the LA Times.  In a perfect world everyone would pay all of their bills.  But life happens, and unforeseen events come up.  That is when people turn to bankruptcy and student loans should not be excluded from the discharge.  As a bankruptcy attorney, I see many cases where a fresh start doesn’t mean much because a debtor holds on to tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, dollars worth of student loan debt.  Let me know if you think student loan debt should be discharged in bankruptcy.