Since the “problem” was created by Governmental regulation. It has to be resolved by Governmental regulation.
Simply, make student debt dischargeable by bankruptcy, as it was prior to the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. This Act was passed to solve a problem that did not exist. Yes, I do know that some types of loans were not dischargeable under other Acts (such as loans from a NOT FOR PROFIT entity).
This Act lumped for profit loans in as well. Since the passage of the 2005 Act, the cost required for a College degree has risen dramatically, in direct response to this legislation. College degrees are almost the minimum entry requirement now for a job.
It’s much like real estate adjustable rate loans, it sold people on the idea of the American dream.
While the ability to discharge student loans has had some Legislative traction, the bar for discharging those loans is, in my opinion, to high. Declaring bankruptcy and accepting the financial burden associated with 7 years of bad credit, plus the cost of many years of trying to rebuild your credit to get decent financial interest rates is more than adequate to reign in abuse.
This was a Republican Party passed act (see what I did there, no one stance is a litmus test for being a Conservative or a Liberal), which along with Citizens United are 2 extremely damaging issues that our Country faces.
Full disclosure, I had student loan debt, and I paid it off. So I don’t have a dog in this fight.