Can Student Loans Be Discharged in Bankruptcy?

Can student loans be discharged in bankruptcy? The short answer is yes, but it is not easy to do so.

As of 2019, the total amount of outstanding student loans is $1.41 trillion. With so many people in debt due to student loans, one would think that an excellent option to get rid of your student loan debt would be to file bankruptcy. Unfortunately, roughly only 0.04% of the people who have filed for bankruptcy have been granted either a full or partial discharge of their student loans.

Regardless if you are filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, most won’t be able to cancel out their student loan debt. Your only hope is being able to prove that repaying your student loans would cause an undue hardship. But note that the issue is that determining and accepting your claim of undue hardship will vary between courts. 

So yes, you can discharge your student loans by filing bankruptcy, but most courts are reluctant to discharge them.