They became easy to get because lenders knew their loans were non-dischargeable. That completely changes the risk equation and to act like it doesn't is an exercise in bad-faith.
Federal student loans have been non-dischargeable since the 90s, and this problem has been building since then. Federal student loans also make up over 90% of student loan debt, and since 2010 have been issued solely by the Department of Education. Also, not all private loans are non-dischargeable.
No-dischargeable private loans are such a small portion of the problem that they are effectively irrelevant.