They cannot. He was trying to anyways. Quoting the article which is quoting the court:
The applicant testified that during the pendency of the
bankruptcy proceeding, the payments on his student loan
obligation would be greatly reduced. ... the panel
observed that the only debt that could be discharged in a
bankruptcy proceeding would be the applicant’s $16,500 in
consumer debt, as the applicant’s $170,000 in student
loans are nondischargeable in bankruptcy.