Explanations of why they are more difficult to discharge is certainly necessary, though.
I'm also curious how student loans can be discharged except via death of the lendee. It probably happens, but I don't personally know anyone who has discharged subsidized student loans in bankruptcy. (I do know people who have discharged unsubsidized private student loans in bankruptcy.)
I work in the industry, some of the ways you can have your student loans discharged are:
False Certification (Ability to Benefit): For forgiving a borrower's loan based upon a false certification of the borrower's ability to receive benefits to attend college because he/she doesn't have a GED or high school diploma.
False Certification (Disqualifying Status): For forgiving a borrower's loan based on the borrower's disqualifying condition(s) for the degree.
False Certification (Unauthorized Signature/Unauthorized Payment): For forgiving a borrower's loan based upon endorsement or certification of the promissory note, disbursement, or application by an unauthorized person.
School Closure: For forgiving a borrower's loan based upon a school closure that prevents the borrower from completing his/her degree or program.
Unpaid Refund: For forgiving the borrower's loan because the borrower's school did not provide the correct refund to the borrower's lender.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness Forbearance: For borrowers who are eligible for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program and whose entire outstanding balance will be forgiven at the end of their fifth year of teaching in a qualifying school.
Total and Permanent Disability: For borrowers who are unable to repay their Federal Family Loan Program student loans due to total and permanent disability (as defined by the U.S. Department of Education).
(Also, "borrower" is the more usual term, rather than "lendee".)
(Also, agree on "borrower". It's late and I'm exhausted and all I could come up with was "lendee".)
>You can't.
Yet. ;)
[1] <https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/itt/faq>
You can't.
> Isn't that the reason student loans are not dischargeable?
No.
First, student loans are, in fact, dischargeable, though there is a higher bar to discharging them. So expalanations of why they are not dischargeable are unnecessary (and necessarily incorrect.)
But, more to the point, unsecured loans in general are dischargeable without the heightened requirements that apply to student loans; not having something to repossess isn't a difference between student loans and other unsecured loans, so cannot explain the difference in treatment.