> I can think of 2-3 instances just off the top of my head where you could (legitimately) declare bankruptcy but the school shouldn't necessarily lose $50-100k because of that.

Do you have an example? Like buying too much house and getting then getting fired from your job?

I suppose the bankruptcy judge could make a determination of the student debt was a major cause of the bankruptcy, and only clawing back the money in those cases.

> Especially if nothing else about the current climate changes, all that will do is cause costs to rise even faster as the school just increases tuition to compensate.

But wouldn't that quickly spiral out of control for the school? If they just increase tuition, then they'd get more money clawed back down the road (assuming it's an ongoing policy, not a one-time program). I'm thinking they'd mainly have to cut costs, dip into endowments, or do some fundraising to fill the gap.

Yeah, really anything that isn't "I got a worthless degree and my earnings as a barista don't cover it" isn't really the school's fault. I'm sure there are some gray areas. You'd probably need to have some sort of income threshold where the loans are no longer dischargeable. But then what happens if you're unemployed? If your degree has gotten you a $200k/yr job in the past but you're unemployed now, are they dischargeable? What happens if they're discharged and you get another $200k/yr job two weeks later? Etc.