Once poor, always poor?

Re:Once poor, always poor? by thaumasiotes on Monday December 27, 2021 @06:26AM (#29701550)

> One rationale that I heard that seems reasonable at face value is since you can't give back your education, that's the justification for not being able to declare bankruptcy.

It goes a little further than that. It doesn't really matter that you can't give back the education. It's that the loan is entirely unsecured - there's no collateral, but also the people who get student loans typically don't have any assets. So it would cost nothing to take out student loans, study, and then declare bankruptcy.

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Re:Once poor, always poor? by bluejay2 on Monday December 27, 2021 @07:02AM (#29701775)

I can't reply directly to the poster who asked:

> why wouldn't that apply to credit card debt?

So I'll just leave an answer here. Credit cards, when they are issued to college-aged kids with little to no income or assets, are typically issued with very small credit lines (i.e. we're talking much smaller amounts than students loans) and/or require a co-signer, like a parent with an established credit history.

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Re:Once poor, always poor? by vpilcx on Monday December 27, 2021 @06:47AM (#29701687)

If that were the case though, why wouldn't that apply to credit card debt?

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Re:Once poor, always poor? by thaumasiotes on Monday December 27, 2021 @07:02AM (#29701774)

It does. That's why my first credit card had a limit of $800. It eventually rose all the way to $1400.

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