Most unsecured debts can be wiped out in bankruptcy. Student loans are an exception, and Congress narrowed the way out in stages. In 1976 it made “undue hardship” a condition for discharging government student loans in their first five years. In 1998 it removed the last other route. In 2005 it added private student loans to the list.
In practice, most courts apply a strict test. Among other things, the borrower must show that he or she “cannot maintain, based on current income and expenses, a ‘minimal standard’ of living.”