[pitt1980]

bankruptcy isn't exactly a get out of jail free card

I'm not an expert in this area, but I suspect if you're interested in qualifying for a mortgage in the future, bankruptcy is something you should think twice about

I'm not opposed to student debt having somewhat different standing from other types of debt in bankruptcy proceedings

but I think playing with the mechanics of what moving around the standing of student debt in bankruptcy proceedings would do, is probably a fruitful avenue to explore as a society

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I'm not sure making it harder to take out 150-200K in student debt might not be a step in the right direction, even if that's politically hard

[nradov]

A bankruptcy can only remain on a consumer's credit report for 10 years. And even within that period, if the consumer pays other debts on time then after a few years a bankruptcy will have only a minor impact on credit score. So for someone who graduates from college at age 22 with $150K in student debt it would be economically rational to immediately file bankruptcy and discharge the debt. At worst he would have to wait until age 32 to qualify for a mortgage, and probably not even that long. The government shouldn't encourage this. We need to find ways to prevent students from needing to borrow so much in first place.