[cbr]

What would keep someone from getting an economically valuable degree, declaring bankruptcy on graduating, and then just waiting until that had expired from their credit record?

[AngryData]

You can't just declare bankruptcy and then be all good, you have to go through a court and a judge is going to lambast you for attempting such a thing when it is obvious you didn't even try to pay your loan. Otherwise this same thing would be a problem for other forms of loans too. Someone gets a loan, stashes it in some form that can't be retrieved by debt collectors, declares bankruptcy. The judge is going to tell you go fuck yourself because you don't even have anything to liquidate and deny your bankruptcy declaration. If you do have something to liquidate, well now you aren't any better off because you just lost all your possessions.

Plus there are criminal charges for fraud since it would be pretty obvious you took out the loan with this plan in mind.

[revscat]

It is my understanding that doing this is next to impossible. The way bankruptcy laws are structured student loans are almost never discharged as part of bankruptcy proceedings, and require a special hearing to justify their discharge. These hearings are only rarely successful, mainly due to physical or mental incapacitation, not financial stress.

[kaishiro]

The parent is replying to a comment specifically discussing making student loan debt dischargeable.

[mrep]

7 years of fucking up your credit?

[cbr]

Availability of credit over 7 years is generally much less valuable than $200k.